Total Drama Heart Island
by WinterFairy209
Summary: Join Chris and Chef and a 16 of your OCs on Heart Island! See friendship form, teens fall in love and villains try to ruin it all along with entertaining challenges.
1. Ad for Total Drama Heart Island

On an island somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario, our story begins

"Welcome to Heart Island!" announced a handsome, middle-age host. "Where I, Chris Mclean, will host the newest installment of the popular reality series Total Drama!"

"Join us and our 16 new contestants as they get tortured and embarrassed on international television! And yes, experience friendship and love and pure hatred towards their fellow contestants!" Chris gave a 50 watt smile towards the camera. "Send in your audition tapes today!

"Now-" Chris began to only be interrupted.

"Chris!" yelled a deep voice as a burly African-Canadian man entered on screen "The toilet's backed up again!"

"Chef!" whined the host "Get out of my shot!

"No need to get your girdle in a twist, Chris," The man, "Chef", growled as he left.

Chris growled in return and glared at Chef's retreating figure.

"Chris, your line," reminded an off-screen voice.

"Never mind!" Chris snapped. "Go on a break, intern!

Chris got down on one knee and started to fiddle with the camera. Soon the feed was glitchy, though the audio was still clear.

"Stupid Chef, ruining _my_ shot. Doesn't he realize the viewers want to see me?" Chris muttered beore standing up with a triumphant smirk. At this the feed cuts off.

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_

 _ **Either PM or review your OC's. SYOC's close Friday or when I gather cast. Not first come, first serve. You can submit up to 2 OCs. I may include an OC of my own. Follow guidelines below:**_

 _ **Name:**_

 _ **Gender:**_

 _ **Age:**_

 _ **Hair (color/length/style):**_

 _ **Body (height/weight/shape):**_

 _ **Clothes:**_

 _ **Sleepwear:**_

 _ **Stereotype:**_

 _ **Personality:**_

 _ **Strengths:**_

 _ **Weaknesses:**_

 _ **Who are their friends?**_

 _ **Will they have a lover?**_

 _ **If then who?**_

 _ **How will they react if they win?**_

 _ **If they lose?**_

 _ **Audition tape:**_


	2. Need more Ocs!

**Disclaimer: Chris and Chef and Total Drama are owned by the owners of Total Drama and Fresh TV. Barbie Girl is owned by Aqua and their record company and Barbie is owned by Mattel. I do not own any of these. No interns were killed in the making of this chapter.**

A black suede chair swivels around revealing, the one and only Chris Mclean, "We are here today to discuss a very important issue."

He claps his hands and a flat screen TV comes out from the wall, showing an image of Chris skipping through a meadow full of daffodils and daisies as flower petals rain from the sky.

"My hair. If we don't get enough participants in Total Drama Heart Island, I may not be able to pay for hair gel." Chris pauses for a moment, allowing the audience's shock to wear off.

"It'd be impossible to imagine the horrors that would result if the world was deprived of my handsome head of hair. So I made a slideshow." Chris then gestures to the screen.

He claps his hands again and the lights dim.

"Volcanoes would start erupting as my hair could not calm the lava with its coolness." Says Chris as an image of people running away from a volcanic eruption appears on screen.

A new image comes on screen showing wild-life scurrying around while people run in panicked circles.

"The animals would not be soothed by the lullaby that is my hair and run amok."

A even more ridiculous image follows, an image of people looting hairdressers and breaking windows.

"People would loot stores to find gel, to fix my hair, unaware that my hair gel is brewed on my private island in the Pacific and not even I know the recipe."

Another image appears on the TV, this one of giant cakes eating schools.

"My hair would not be able to go on the quest to-"

...

Chris's tape cuts off and is replaced with one of an intern's.

...

Chef is dancing in his kitchen, his back facing the camera, as "Barbie Girl" by Aqua is playing.

"I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, life in plastic is fantastic..." Sings Chef, very badly and off-key. His butt swings back and forth as his attempt at new-fangled dancing.

Giggles erupt off-screen and a "Dude, shut up" and Chef suddenly stops dancing and is now stock-still.

His head practically turns a whole 360 degrees and some claim his eyes were a raging fire red.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Kitchen!" He roars and starts racing towards the camera like a bull who just saw red.

Screams echo and the camera is thrown on the floor and the film turns scratchy before it cuts off.

 _Author's Note_

 _Please send more Ocs, think of the giant cakes! Need 4 more girls and 2 more boys. Would like a villainous girl and a nerdy girl. No preferences for the rest. Either PM or review using the application_. _Sorry if it's a bit of a cop-out._

 **Name:**

 **Gender:**

 **Race:**

 **Age:**

 **Hair (color/length/style):**

 **Body (height/weight/shape):**

 **Clothes:**

 **Sleepwear:**

 **Stereotype:**

 **Personality:**

 **Strengths:**

 **Weaknesses:**

 **Who are their friends?**

 **Will they have a lover?**

 **If then who?**

 **How will they react if they win?**

 **If they lose?**

 **Audition tape:**


	3. Cast List

_**Authors Note:**_ **Here's the cast list guys! Sorry if your OC wasn't accepted. The story will be updated sometime next week.** __

 **Cast:**

 **Females:**

 **Launa Everett – The Sporty Prep – maycontestdrew**

 **Maggie Stewart – The Ballerina – WinterFairy209**

 **Victoria Settler – The Fun-Loving Hipster – Thedaffodilqueen**

 **Anabelle Willow – The Daydreamer – Carolyn12**

 **Tiana Cruz – The Optimist – Mostawesomefanoftvshows**

 **Cashmere Johnson – The Cowgirl – BunniesAreNotCookies**

 **Lynn Moon – The Soulful Musician – NightDusk (Guest)**

 **Xochitl Joaka – The Artist - BunniesAreNotCookies**

 **Males:**

 **Jayce Montgomery – The Basket Case Jock – AceSeesYouuu**

 **Graham Ulry – The Sarcastic Otaku – xXRocketShark216Xx**

 **Jason Murderday – The Fun Introvert – Nova Murderday**

 **Hans Dijkastra – The Dutch Boy – Another Generic Gamer**

 **Ricky Samson – The Cute Nerd – Boruto101**

 **Atlas Gold – The Popular Guy – apandeinfinity**

 **Nathan Nostrom – The Heavy Metal Guitarist - ninjedi**

 **Ashton Mendel – The Lone Writer – Falcon56**


	4. Meet the Contestants: Part 1

_**Author's Note:**_ **Hey Guys! Sorry I took a while but here's Part 1 of the first chapter! Also I don not own the franchise Total Drama, just the story**

We see our host Chris standing in a field full of scraggly shrubs and weeds with old cabins and a large gray building far behind him. The outline of a sandy beach is to his right and a small forest to his left.

"Hi, I'm Chris Mclean bringing you the first episode of Total Drama Heart Island!" Chris flashed a grin to the audience and then continued "Out of many applicants only 16 were chosen to star next to moi"

"Here on Heart Island campers will compete in dangerous, embarrassing and downright bad for the heart challenges all for your entertainment! Each campfire ceremony will take place at our campfire grounds were campers will receive a candy heart which means their safe for the night. The one camper who does not receive a heart will carted off the island and be labeled as a loser for the rest of their life. The winner will receive 15 minutes of fame and, more importantly, one million dollars!" Chris exclaimed.

Chris walked down to the dock and then began addressing the audience again.

"Right now, we're waiting for our cast, who will hopefully bring loads of drama!" Chris then peered towards the horizon and flashed a smile towards the camera.

"I think I see our first contestant coming" Chris said, gesturing to the lake where a small yacht was approaching.

The boat soon arrives and stops at a weathered dock, dropping off a tall teenage boy with tousled black hair, and an athletic build. He has on a blue T-shirt and cargo shorts with black sneakers.

"Jayce Montgomery!" Chris exclaimed "Contestant number one, uno, the first drop of rain to drizzle. How does it feel to star on an awesome show next to me?"

"It feels great Chris and I'm sure all the viewers will love me!" Jayce said with a slight British accent, eyeing the camera and smiling.

"Great! Now go stand over there and wait for the rest of your teammates" Chris said edging Jayce off camera and towards the other end of the dock.

 **…** **Confessionals…**

"That man is one of the most annoying people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting." Jayce said, no longer smiling. "I just wanted to tell you to get used to your new winner." He chuckled "Because I'm going to win."

 **…** **End Confessionals….**

A second yacht putties away and a girl is left standing on the dock. She is slim and petite and her brown sun-streaked high ponytails shows her obvious affection for outdoor sports. She's wearing a white baggy shirt that cuts off above her belly button and blue shorts.

She starts toward Chris with a bounce in her step and a smile that could burst out any second.

"Launa Everett! Nice to see you for the first time." Chris greeted, he looked like he was going to say more but was interrupted with Launa's bubbly reply.

"Nice to see you too! And nice to see you too audience. Except I can't see you, but you can see me!" She might have kept blabbering if not for Chris pushing her away to be Jayce's problem.

Launa stumbled towards the other end of the dock, obviously startled by Chris's action. She then planted her feet firmly and looked around for another contestant. Noticing Jayce she went over to say hello.

"Hi, I'm Launa! Sorry if I was a bit chipmuncky back there, It's just exhilarating being on a TV show, you know?" Launa then smiled and held out her hand for a handshake

"Yeah" Jayce murmured, obviously not paying attention, his eyes focused on the third contestant.

Launa's bright smile is replaced with a small frown, and she retracts her hand, obviously upset by being ignored.

 **…** **.Confessionals…**

"That guy is so rude," Launa complains with her legs tightly crossed. "I mean who just ignores a handshake? It goes against all common courtesy!" She then crosses her arms in thought "But maybe just a little cute..." She said drifting off into space.

 **…** **..End Confessionals…**

The contestant Jayce was staring at was standing confidently at the end of the dock. She had long messy red hair and a plaid shirt that cuts off just below the chest, revealing a pink sports bra. She also had brown cowboy boots, jean shorts and a beige cowboy hat.

She struts over to Chris and says in a breathy voice with a country twang, "Hi, I'm Cashmere. I'm just plum-pleased to meet y'all."

"Hi Cashmere! Nice to meet you too. Now if you go to the other end of the dock you'll find your fellow contestants."

Cashmere nodded and departed towards her fellow contestants.

Standing firmly next to the other two contestants, Cashmere soon wore a mischievous smile when she saw Jayce's eyes traveling down her leg.

 **…** **Confessionals….**

"He's gonna be putty in my hands soon enough," Cashmere said, her eyes reflecting her mischievous smile. "And then I'm gonna win that sweet, cool million. Cool like freshly squeezed cow milk."

 **…** **Break…**

"Cashmere's hot, but not my type," Jayce shrugged and then continued, "But she looks like quite a character."

 **…** **Break…**

"Something about Cashmere up there seemed kind of fake," Launa said, "But maybe I'm wrong. I don't like too judge people too early."

 **…** **End Confessionals…..**

"Here comes our next contestant!" Chris exclaims as a tall petite girl makes her way across the dock in long, graceful strides. She has long auburn hair pulled in a tight bun and dancer's legs. She's wearing a soft pink athletic shirt with a slightly darker pink knee-length skirt and ballet shoes.

"Hi, Chris. It's wonderful to be here today." She said politely.

"Ah, Maggie Stewart. Now we're on a schedule, so go mingle." Chris says, shooing her away.

Maggie then go over to the other contestants and curtsies, "I'm Maggie, please to make your acquaintance."

Launa is the first one to reply "Hi Maggie! I'm Launa."

"Nice to meet you Launa, I love your hair. Did you highlight it?"

"Nope, all natural." Launa replied, fingering her brown locks.

Cashmere looked annoyed at being ignored for so long and the fact that the she hasn't gotten one compliment since she got here. So she walks up to Maggie and Launa and interjects herself into their conversation.

"Hi, y'all. I'm Cashmere if you didn't know." Cashmere says eagerly waiting for the compliments to flow in.

 **…** **..Confessionals…**

"I was right, rude." Launa said, thinking of Cashmere's interruption in her conversation with her friend.

 **…** **.Break…**

"Launa seems nice. This place? Not so much." Maggie thought out loud. She looked around her environment, and sighed, "I think I can get used to this place. I hope."

 **…** **..End Confessionals…**

"Uh, Hi. I'm Maggie." Maggie seems a bit flustered by the interjection. But manages to think of a reply. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Sugar Plum. I heard we were talking about hair." Cashmere says, not so subtly vying for attention.

 **…** **.Confessionals…**

Cashmere said proudly "You know, I don't think Maggie caught on."

 **...Break…**

"I caught on." Said Maggie "She's not subtle at all."

 **…** **..End Confessionals…**

"Well, um, we" Maggie was saved by Jayce.

"Hey guys, you might wanna see the newest contestant." Jayce pointed to the newest contestant, mostly to stop their chatting.

The latest contestant was short and plump. She had dull brown hair that went down to her chest. She had on a white tank-top and a black cardigan and blue jeans.

She bounded down the dock and practically screamed "Yo! I'm so excited to be here, Chris! I'm ready for the game but the game isn't ready for me!"

Jayce looked at the other contestants and said, "Do you think she's always gonna be this loud?"

The other contestants just shrugged and diverted their attention back to the newest person.

"Hi Victoria." Greeted Chris, still a little deaf in his left here.

Settler looked bashfully down at her feet, "Oh, Chris. Just call me by my last name, Settler."

Chris looks a little confused and weirded out. "O-kay. Go stand near the other contestants. And wait quietly!"

Settler skipped down to the other contestants and stopped, eagerly waiting for the next contestant to arrive.

The next contestant is dropped off. He's a Filipino with dark hair and bright blond highlights. He's wearing an pink muscle shirt and jeans. He walked over to Chris and put an arm around him.

"Hey Chris! Good to see you! And I'm sure I'm good to see." He then winked at the camera.

"Good to see you too, Atlas. Now if you could step to my right you're blocking my profile." Chris said and Atlas gingerly took a step. "Perfect. Now go stand near the other contestants."

Atlas nodded and went to greet his new fans.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Kids these days, 'I'm sure I'm good to see' does nobody know that the audience wants to see me?" Chris complained.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Hello fellow players! I'd like you to now I'm as smart as I am pretty and pretty as I'm strong and will lead us to victory beautifully." Atlas bowed, waiting for the applause that always follows whenever he makes his victory speeches back home.

"Uh, there are no teams yet and even if there were I wouldn't vote you in." Jayce scoffed, giving his "teammate" a dose of reality.

Atlas came up from his bow and said "Well you're not the only voter and I'm sure any of these lovely ladies would vote me in, right?" He then winked at Settler, Cashmere, Maggie and Launa.

"Maybe." Launa replies "But I would need time to think. What are your platforms?"

"Hmm…" Atlas muttered "I didn't think of that yet. Let me get back to you."

Atlas sat down on the dock, his toned legs dangling over the edge, thinking of his platforms for team leader.

Back at the front another yacht pulls up to the dock and drops off the 7th contestant.

The boy that was dropped off had messy black hair and outstandingly violet eyes. He wore red skinny jeans and a deep purple jacket despite the nice weather.

"Hi, I'm Jason" He greeted. Despite the welcoming he didn't seem to acknowledge the other contestants. He walked down the dock, ignoring Chris and then stood there with no intention to speak.

Settler's eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she looked at the newcomer in awe.

 **...Confessionals…**

"He looks just like one what I would imagine one of the vampires in my romance novels would look like!" Settler gushed as she bounced up and down in the porta-potty. "I wonder if he's moody too!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Okay, then." Chris said a little weirded out by the lack of attention. "Let's welcome our next contestant Tiana!"

A girl skipped down the dock with childish glee. She wore a bright yellow jacket with red shorts and a red tube top. She had straight black hair that went to her back and warm brown eyes.

"Hi!" She called in a chipper voice and swayed as she talked. "I'm so glad to meet you all! I'm sure we'll all have a great time together."

"Great Tiana! Now go stand near the other contestants." Chris said

Tiana pranced over to the rest of the contestants "Hi guys!"

A jumble of greetings rang out from the cast.

"Great!" said Tiana and she took her place in the cast.

"Soon we'll have to take a commercial break, but first let's recap the contestants we have so far." Chris announced.

"We have Jayce Montgomery" Chris said.

'Oh, Hey!" Jayce said, putting on a charming smile.

"Launa Everett"

"Hi!' waved Launa, tearing her eyes from Jayce's smile.

"Cashmere Johnson"

"Er, Chris didn't we already do this part?" questioned Cashmere.

"It's a recap Cashmere, we're just showing all of you guys again."

"Can't the audience remember us? I just got introduced one minute ago." quipped Tiana

"Guys! Just let me do the recap!" Chris screamed, aggravated.

The contestants nodded, a little surprised, and Chris continued.

"Maggie Stewart"

"Hi," Maggie squeaked.

"Victoria Settler or Settler"

"Hey Y'all. Again," Settler responded.

"Atlas Gold"

"Mmhh," Atlas muttered, still pondering what his platform was going to be.

"Jason Murderday. Creepy name by the way."

"Thanks," Jason said dryly.

"And our 8th contestant, Tiana Cruz."

"Bye, love you. Wait, you're not my Mom." Tiana said, confused.

"Now to commercial!" Chris exclaimed.

 _ **Authors Note:**_ **Hey sorry if you're a bit disappointed that you only got to see 8 contestants but the rest will be introduced next chapter along with the teams! I will probably update before March. Bye!**


	5. Meet the Contestants: Part 2

"And we're back! Now let's introduce our newest contestant, Ricky Samson!" announces Chris.

Ricky has wavy, short brunette hair and handsome blue eyes covered by square glasses. He's wearing a gray polo, blue jeans and white sneakers. Ricky looks around the place, sighs, and dramatically walks over to the other contestants.

"Guys, I know I'm devastatingly handsome but please, it's a curse," Ricky then dramatically looked over at the lake, then dramatically sighed and then waited with the other contestants, dramatically.

 **...Confessionals…**

"What is with Chris and choosing idiotically egotistic guys?" Jayce asked in incredulity.

 **…** **.Break…**

"That guy seems to do everything so…. dramatically," Tiana observes.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

The 9th contestant wasn't hard to miss. He looked like just like anybody else, messy black hair, slightly taller than usual, and didn't seem like he got a lot of sun. But his attire was more unusual than Cashmere's cowboy get up. He wore a leather jacket and a black t-shirt with the words "Brass Knuckle Death Punch" on it in a bold white. He had big, bulky black combat boots on and a giant guitar case slung across his back.

He bounded over to Chris and said "Hey Chris! Nice to meet you."

"Hey Nathan, erm, what does 'Brass Knuckle Death Punch' mean?" Chris asked, slightly nervous and intimidated by the taller boy's appearance.

"Oh, that? 'Brass Knuckle Death Punch' is my heavy metal band. Well, my future heavy metal band. I need more members." Nathan answered

"Okay Nathan. Feel free to join the rest of the contestants." Chris gestured towards the rest of the contestants at the end of the deck.

Nathan nodded his head and walked over to the other side of the deck.

The contestants moved over so none of them would be too close to Nathan. Nathan's dark attire stood out like a sore thumb when compared with the gang's blues, purples, reds, and whites.

Nathan turned around to address the rest of the cast, "Hey any of you want join a heavy metal band?"

The other contestants started quickly making up excuses.

"Yeah, I can't play any instruments," Jayce said, putting on a somewhat nervous smile.

"I'm a county gal," Cashmere said with a tip of hat to indicate, she was indeed, a county gal.

"My mother won't let me!" Tiana blurted out.

"Aww, okay," Nathan sighed.

 **...Confessionals…**

Nathan sighed, "Everybody says that. Maybe I should start asking at metal conventions and not the grocery store."

 **…** **.Break…**

"You know, Nathan seems like a big teddy bear. But with studded leather," Launa remarks.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

The next contestant had short, chin length blond hair. She was wearing a white shirt, with a dark green jacket, skinny jeans and gray ballet shoes. She was tall and held a lilac book tightly to her chest. She walked down the dock like she was there, but was reading a book in her head.

"Hi, Annabelle," Chris greeted.

Annabelle muttered something so softly it was incomprehensible.

"What?" Chris said, cupping his ear to show her to speak louder.

"Hi," She squeaked, still quiet, but comprehensible.

"Hi, again. Now if you would join your fellow contestants at the end of the dock," Chris said.

Annabelle nodded and started towards the end of the dock with the same dreamy look on her face. Annabelle didn't notice, with her head in the clouds, that she was ambling not towards the contestants, but the edge of the dock!

The contestants were only notified of the blonde-haired girl's blunder, when they heard a shriek and a resounding splash!

The cast scrambled and peered over to see Annabelle floating and coughing out water. Launa quickly grabbed the taller girl's hand and pulled her up with incredible strength.

Annabelle shivered on the dock sopping wet and clutching the lilac book even harder.

"Your clothes! Your hair!" Cashmere cried.

"Oh, your book!" Maggie gasped.

Annabelle cracked a weak smile and said "Don't worry, I waterproof all my books,"

The cast each sent her a bizarre look, but Annabelle just shrugged and smiled.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Walking into lakes, ponds, oceans and pools isn't that strange to me," Annabelle explains "And I usually have a book or two on me, so I started waterproofing all my books so they wouldn't get ruined."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Man, first we get an egotistic guy, a metal freak and a girl who right off the bat walks straight into the lake," Jayce says "I hope they're not on my team."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"We need to get you into some fresh clothes," Launa remarks.

"No way," Chris interrupts.

"Why not?" Settler asks, her hands on her hips.

"The producers say first we introduce all the contestants, then you guys get settled in. There is no impromptu clothes switch in that schedule," Chris says sternly.

"Well, I'm not going to-"Settler starts.

"I'm okay guys, really," Annabelle says and Settler backs down with an "hmmph,"

"Okay, after all the excitement, let's introduce our 12th contestant, Graham Ulry!" Chris proclaims, gesturing to the other end of the dock where a young man now stands.

Graham had ash blond hair with a cowlick on either ends. He was wearing an oversized brown hoodie matched with simple jeans. In his hands he held an unidentified manga.

He scanned the contestants and rolled his eyes, showing he wasn't very impressed with them. Cashmere was the only one who noticed the glance and subsequent eye roll and glared at Graham, who ignored her.

The otaku started strolling down towards the other end of the dock.

"Hey Graham," Chris said.

"Hey," Graham responded, barely glancing at Chris and continued walking down the dock.

He stood with the other contestants and opened up his manga to continue reading.

Nathan and Tiana peered over at the newcomer, intrigued by his silence.

"Hey, what you reading?" Nathan uttered.

Tiana nodded vigorously, showing she was asking that question as much as Nathan was.

Graham started, "I'm reading the best manga in existence-"

 ***Static***

"What Graham was about to say is copyrighted, and we don't like paying for any additional costs, except of course, my hair gel," Chris said, sitting in what appears to be the editing room. "So what Graham truly said is left to your imagination."

Chris smirked and held up a small remote, "Now back to our regularly scheduled program."

 ***Static***

"Cool," Tiana says, awed.

The contestants were soon aware of the next contestant's arrival when they heard strumming on a tiny ukulele.

The contestant strumming on the instrument was wearing denim shorts and a gray sweater with a thick black stripe across the chest area and a built in infinity scarf. She had curly black hair and was of Mexican descent. Her brown eyes were covered by thick black, square glasses.

She walked down the dock, humming and strumming on her ukulele.

"Welcome… Xonis?" Chris tried, blanking on her unusual name.

She quirked her eyebrow, silently informing Chris that wasn't her name.

"Xyla? Chris tried. The girl only shook her head in response, she had now put her ukulele back in the strap on her back.

Xena?" Chris said, stumbling on her name one last time.

She groaned and then corrected Chris on her name "Xochitl. My name is Xochitl."

"Okay, Xochitl. Why don't you stand near the other contestants?"

Xochitl trudges over to the other contestants, and the cast decides not to talk to the angered girl.

"Let's introduce our nest contestant, Hans Dijkstra!" Chris announces.

Xochitl mutters under her breath, "Sure, he can pronounce Dijkstra, but not Xochitl."

A Dutch boy wanders onto the deck. He has messy brown hair and is wearing a deep blue hoodie with black jeans.

"Hey, Chris," Hans says with a Dutch accent.

"Hi, Hans. Over there you'll see your future teammates, why don't you join them?" Chris says.

"Kay," Hans nods and strolls to the other contestants. While Hans looked around at his fellow players, he noticed Annabelle, still soaking wet and shivering.

"Oh," He says and rushes over to the poor girl. "What happened to you?" He questions.

"Let's just say I had a fight with the lake over there," Annabelle says, gesturing to the water.

"You must be freezing," Hans remarks, "Here, have my hoodie."

He pulls off his blue hoodie, revealing a gray shirt with "Dutch Rules!" on it. He drapes the hoodie over Annabelle.

"Thanks," Annabelle squeaks. Their eyes meet for a moment, before they both turn away, blushing hard.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Wow, that girl is really cute, what's her name," Hans wonders, "Aw, man! I forget to get her name."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Hans was so nice to lent me his jacket," Annabelle says, snuggling into the hoodie's cloth, "It smells like my public library" She breaths into that hoodie once more before dreamily sighing "And double Dutch chocolate chip cookies".

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Okay, our next contestant is Ashton Mendel!" Chris exclaimed.

The cast turns their attention to Ashton, a boy with pale blond hair and icy blue eyes. He's wearing a blue sweater over a white polo and beige khakis with brown shoes. He saunters down the dock to Chris.

"Hey Ashton, nice to meet you," Chris welcomes.

"Nice to be here Chris," Ashton states.

He walks down the dock, and greets the other contestants, "Hey, guys."

"Hey," Ricky responds. "Are you excited to be here?"

"Yeah, but kind of nervous too," Ashton moves closer to Ricky so their chat isn't the other contestant's new daytime TV.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure at least eight of them think I'm a total snob."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I thought, 'Hey, I'll go up, state I don't want any attention to my looks and that's that', but really I probably came off as jerk," Ricky states, disappointed by his poor judgment, "Maybe, they don't all think I'm a jerk?" He states hopefully.

 **…** **.Break…**

"Man, now that I think of it, that Ricky was a jerk," Atlas states, "Anyway, I finally figured out my platform and my team is gonna get a speech like the Gettysburg address!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Now for a final contestant, Lynn Moon!" Chris proclaims.

Lynn Moon was a certainly a unique character. She had long amethyst hair, delicately clipped together by a caramel butterfly clip. She wore a black tube top with a baby blue jacket over it. She had on artfully ripped leggings and black skirt. Her most noticeable piece of luggage was a guitar case with travel stickers on every square inch.

She meanders over to Chris.

"Congratulations on being the final contestant of Heart Island!" Chris exclaims.

"Um, thanks?" Lynn says, a little confused on why she should be receiving compliments.

"Now, I'll go gather up the team lists, and all you guys," Chris gestures towards the cast, "Figure out whose throats you should be ripping out."

"Hey," Nathan says wandering up to the purple-haired girl. "Does that," He says gesturing towards the guitar case, "Contain a guitar?"

Lynn chuckles, "Yep, contains my good, old acoustic guitar."

'Sweet," Nathan nods, "I have an electric," He said, gesturing to guitar strapped to his back.

"We should totally rock out some time," Lynn says.

 _Meanwhile at another part of the dock,_

"So Maggie," Launa inquires, "I'm guessing you're a ballerina,"

Maggie jokes, "How'd you know?"

"Oh, just one of my psychic powers," Launa poses with her hands on her forehead as if reading Maggie's mind.

Maggie giggles, clutching her hand to her mouth trying not to break out in guffaws.

Launa joins in with laughter.

 _In the meantime at alternative part of the dock,_

"So, yeah. I love my brother, Dominic, but he can be quite a pain," Ashton finishes.

"I don't have any siblings, and seriously, I don't want any," Ricky says, "From what people say, they seem like just boogers and noogies. But I love my dog, Muffin. She's a German Shepard."

"Oh, I have a Chocolate Lab, Bruno, and he is just the best. I don't get cat people."

"I have a cat, Vanilla, she's really peaceful. After years of owning a cat, I've come up with this, cat people need cats and cats need cat people, I just don't think they work with non-cat people," Ricky states.

Ashton nods in agreement.

 _Meanwhile at another area of the dock,_

"I just love vampire romance novels, but zombies ain't bad either. But they're always brains, brains, brains. Why not some good old cereal once in a while?' Settler blabbers, unaware that her audience, Cashmere and Jayce, were bored out of their minds.

The cowgirl and the basket case jock, looked at each other with empathy, as they didn't know how to escape Settler.

"You know, I love Trix, but why won't they give the rabbit the cereal? Please, I don't think your gonna explode if the rabbit gets some fruity deliciousness all up in his mouth," Settler continues.

 _At the moment at different part of the dock,_

Jason and Graham were sitting on the dock, each reading a book.

Jason looked up and said "Hey, what are you reading?"

Graham responded "-

 ***Static***

"Ah, ah, ah. Did you think we'd let it go?" Chris leered.

 ***Static***

"Cool," Jason responded, "I'm reading 'Catcher in the Rye'.

They both stared at the other's book.

"Wanna trade?" They say simultaneously.

Graham and Jason traded and started hungrily reading the new material.

 _In the meantime at another part of the dock,_

Annabelle and Hans were in the process of glancing at each other furtively and then turning away and blushing.

Finally Hans decided to speak up, "Um, Hi! I'm Hans Dijkstra."

"I'm Annabelle Willow," The daydreamer responded.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Annabelle," Hans said wistfully, "Such a pretty name."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Cute hoodie," Hans said.

"Er, yeah, it's yours."

The Dutch boy nervously chuckled, "Oh, right."

 _Meanwhile at another area of the dock,_

"You know, I swear, nobody understands my artist's soul," Xochitl complained. "I only had one person understand my soul, and that was Num Num, my 4th grade hamster. Unfortunately he now lives with Van-Gogh, Picasso, Da-Vinci and Matisse in the big, blue canvas.

Tiana, who had been subjected to Xochitl's rant, awoke with a snort and screamed, "I _was_ listening Ma!"

Xochitl glared, "What?"

"Nothing," Tiana sweated.

 _At the moment at alternate part of the dock,_

Atlas was scribbling on a notepad when Chris decided to appear, albeit rudely.

"Hey! Hope you didn't miss me!" He screamed right into Atlas's ear.

Atlas practically jumped a foot into the air and nearly fell off his place on the dock, if not for Launa's quick thinking.

She ran over and caught him.

She grunted, "No more wet clothes," and managed to pull the bigger boy up, with some help from Jayce and Nathan.

"Man, what is with you people and water!" Jayce said.

Chris whistled, "Could've nearly fell overboard, Atlas. Better be more careful," as everybody glared at him.

"Anyway, I managed to scrounge up the team lists," Chris said, holding up two sheets of paper with almost illegible handwriting.

"Okay, on my right. Jayce, Maggie, Annabelle, Ashton, Launa, Tiana, Cashmere and Ricky."

Those called lined up on his right. Ricky and Ashton high-fived, happy to be on the same team. While Annabelle looked wistfully over at Hans.

"You will be known as the, pause for dramatic effect," Chris winked at the audience and announced, "The Sensitive Capillaries!"

Chris was met with dead silence.

"Wah-wah," Xochitl said, imitating a sad trombone.

"Man, I hope my team name isn't that lame," Atlas remarked.

"It's like our team is a 5th grader's science project's name on the human heart," Jayce complained.

"Seriously, Chris. You couldn't come up with anything better?" Ricky asked.

"Shut up, you guys! It's funny and clever!" Chris whined.

"Keep telling yourself that Chris," Xochitl rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Okay!" Chris fumed. "Atlas, Graham, Jason, Xochitl, Nathan, Lynn, Settler and Hans! On my left!"

The contestants who were named rushed to his left.

"You are know the Empathetic Arteries! And I'm taking a break!"

 ***Static***

"Your meat too gutty? Too many intestines on your fork?" Chef asked, appearing on infomercial in a TV kitchen. He brandished a big, shiny clever with a wooden handle.

"Try Chef Hatchet's meat clever! Clean cut every time! Or not owe your money back!"

Chef held a pose for a couple seconds showing off the clever to the audience before losing his TV smile and grunting, "There! I'm done."

He dropped the clever, and it embedded itself in the wood of the cutting board.

Several words started rushing on the screen, "Chef Hatchet is not responsible if you hurt or bodily damage yourself with Chef Hatcher's clever. Do not try to lick it, juggle with, build a house with it or anything equally stupid. No money back guarantee."

A circle with a photo of Chef Hatchet swirls onto the screen, "And I approve this message!"

 ***Static***

"Okay, we're back," Chris says, much more calm, while popping a mint. "Now if you wanna make any lasting impressions, go to the confessionals and vent your thoughts."

The teenagers scrambled for the confessionals and soon there was stampede.

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't touch the hair!" Chris screamed, using his hands to form a helmet around his precious hair to protect it from the stampeding teenagers.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I think I got some good players on my team." Jayce bragged, "Launa seems like strong player and if anything else, I can laugh watching the rest of them mess up and take my name of the hit list at the same time," He then deflated and said, "We still have a lame team name, though."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'm glad I'm on a team with Launa," Maggie spoke, "She's really funny. Though I do wonder what she's doing now."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I heard Jayce say my name!" Launa said dreamily.

 **…** **.Break…**

"Today's my lucky day, first I'm on TV, then I meet a vampire, and now I'm on the same team as the vampire!" Settler said, "Things just keep turning up Settler," She propped her feet on the wall of the outhouse and the accidentally knocked out the door and a shriek was heard. "Oops, sorry Cashmere."

 **…** **.Break…**

Cashmere now with a black eyes seethed, "I will kill Settler! And get that snarky Graham! Nobody rolls eyes at me!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"Cool, me and Lynn are on the same team!" Nathan said, "We can hang and rock out together and she's really pretty to boot!" Noticing he said that out loud, Nathan quickly backtracked, "Forget, I said that."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Most of my team seems pretty chill. Good." Xochitl says, "Too bad Tiana isn't on my team, she's a good person to hear my artistic soul."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I will lead my team to victory!" Atlas proclaimed, "I'll while looking good doing it."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Good thing Xochitl isn't on my team," Tiana said, "She's scary and boring."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'm gonna miss Hans," Annabelle sighed.

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'm gonna miss Annabelle," Hans sighed but then looked up determined, "No, I'm going to keep talking her despite these teams and their stupid names!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

 _ **Author's Note: Hey, surprised I updated so soon? I'm on the look out for 2 interns to make a guest appearance (or more ) in Total Drama Heart Island. Here's the application below. PM or review. Will be on my profile.**_

 _ **Name:**_

 _ **Gender:**_

 _ **Looks:**_

 _ **Clothes:**_

 _ **Personality:**_

 _ **Charming or Reclusive?**_

 _ **Introvert or Extrovert?**_

 _ **Shy or Outspoken?**_

 _ **Eloquent or Stuttering?**_


	6. Challenge 1, Part 1: The Heart Triathlon

_Author's_ ** _Note: Hey, challenge one! Sorry for the wait! Thanks given to Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart for donating her OC Daniel Livingston. And Maycontestdrew for contributing the poetry leg of the challenge, featured in next chapter! Now onto the show!_**

* * *

Chris stands on the dock, devoid of any contestants. "Hi, welcome back to Total Drama Heart Island!" He announces.

"We just introduced our 16 contestants, Jayce, Launa, Cashmere, Maggie, Settler, Atlas, Jason, Tiana, Ricky, Nathan, Annabelle, Graham, Hans, Ashton, Xochitl and Lynn. We divided them into two teams with awesome names, beautifully thought out I may point and clever to boot." Chris said a little bitter about the contestants' resentment of their team names.

"We had the Sensitive Capillaries which included Jayce, Launa, Maggie, Cashmere, Tiana, Ricky, Ashton and Annabelle and the Empathetic Arteries which had Settler, Atlas, Jason, Nathan, Graham, Xochitl and Lynn. They are now competing in their first challenge. Who will survive and who will be the first eliminated? Find out on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!" Chris exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

* * *

Most of the contestants had just returned from their vents in the confessionals. The rest who decided not to go were hanging around various places on the dock.

"Okay, guys!" Chris says, "Before we began challenge number one, you kids are going to get a tour of the island and its inhabitants."

The gleaming host put on a visor and brought out a red flag. "Now follow the flag and don't get lost because I can't ensure your safety."

"Chris, we are going to get settled in before starting the challenge, right?" Settler says threateningly.

"Yes, Settler," Chris said, exasperated.

Settler nodded, satisfied, while Annabelle blushed knowing she was responsible for Settler's angry tone.

Chris changed his face from a grimace to a blinding smile and declared, "Okay, guys! Follow me!" Chris began to march out of the dock and towards the island. The cast had no choice but to follow.

Soon they came to two lodges standing next to each other. The lodges were identical, except for the pink flag on the right one and the blue flag waving on the left. The lodges were big, gleaming and modern.

"Here is where you guys will sleep. The one with the pink flag will be the girl's and the blue the boy's." Chris informed the cast, "You'll get to explore them later."

Chris left the lodges and guided the cast inside a cafeteria, "This is our state of the art mess hall."

The contestants looked around in disbelief at that run of the mill lunchroom, with the occasional cockroach.

"And this is your cook, Chef Hatchet," A large African-Canadian man walked out at the sound of his name, he was big, towering over even the taller contestants and wide but instead of fat, he had terrifying, bulging muscles. His eyes were like laser points staring at the cast with a hint of a smile on his lips. The smile was not friendly, but a smirk that made the more nervous contestants want to run.

"Is this the new meat?" He asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at the cast. He walked around inspecting them, to Cashmere's cowboy hat, Nathan's metal attire and Xochitl's ukulele.

Finally, he stopped and said, "What do you guys all eat, protein shakes and granola bars? You all need to get meat on your bones. I expect you guys to all have second helpings of my, heh, dish."

Most of the cast thought, "I hope not."

Except Tiana, who was thinking of a yellow butterfly she saw on the way here.

And Nathan, who wondering if Chef Hatchet could rock the drums.

Annabelle was pondering why clouds looked like Earth creatures.

Hans was questioning how people came up with the names for colors.

But other than that, everybody was thinking, "I hope not."

Satisfied by the visit to the lunchroom, Chris announced, "Okay, to the campfire site." He leaded the cast through a forest of trees and prickly brambles.

"Ow!" Annabelle cried as she pricked her finger on a thorn. "Does anybody have a Band-Aid?"

Ashton nodded and extracted a Band-Aid from his shirt pocket. He then helped Annabelle put it on.

"Wow, you're good at this. Whenever _I_ put on a Band-Aid on, I go through eight," Annabelle chuckled.

"Yeah, I was a boy scout and they taught us all about first-aid. It came in good use, with my brother dive-bombing me every chance he got." Ashton replied.

Hans looked jealously at Annabelle and Ashton from afar.

 **...Confessionals…**

" _I_ could have been a boy scout," Hans remarked, "I just didn't like the marshmallows, that's all."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Settler stubbed her toe on an outlying rock and gritted her teeth, "I swear, this little walk better be over soon."

Xochitl hit her head on a tree branch and declared, "I shouldn't have to work in these conditions!"

"You're not working," Graham remarked, "You're walking and rather slowly, I might add."

Xochitl growled and him and snubbed him with a pretentious, "Hmmph,"

Nathan observed the situation with a quirked eyebrow.

 **...Confessionals…**

"That Graham kid isn't doing himself any favors being mean to everybody," Nathan said. He then dawned on an idea and large smile grew on his face, "Hey! I can befriend him!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Launa was doing a good job of avoiding the plenteous brambles and tree branches, but while she was occupied avoiding those that she managed to trip over a tree root. She tried to catch herself but only managed to twist herself so that instead of her nose hitting the ground, the back of her head would.

Maggie, who had been walking with Launa, let out a cry of shock and surprise as she saw her new friend plummet to the ground.

Jayce, who had been walking nearby, noticed Maggie's cry and rushed over. He managed to grab Launa's hand before her head made contact with the tough soil.

Due to the odd way Launa fell, Jayce and Launa's faces were only a few inches apart.

Launa's face turned beet red and stuttered, "Erm, thanks Jayce,"

Jayce breezily said, "You're welcome. Can't let anyone take anymore dives today, can we?"

With that he pulled Launa up to her feet.

"Right, must be something about this place," Launa nervously chuckled.

Jayce nodded goodbye and went back to making his own way through the forest.

Maggie raised an eyebrow at Launa's nervous stutterings. Though she only had known Launa for short while she knew this wasn't normal.

"What?" Launa asked, despite knowing exactly what Maggie was silently communicating.

"Erm, thanks Jayce," Maggie replied, in an imitation of Launa.

"Fine, I may have a slight crush on him,"

Maggie chuckled.

"Okay, a _big_ crush," Launa admitted.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I like him, okay!" Launa exclaimed, "Is it such a crime to like a boy?"

She groaned, "I don't know why I'm like this, I'm usually so cool around boys, but he just makes me a stuttering mess!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"I never noticed Launa has blue eyes," Jayce remarked, "I've always been fond of blue eyes."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Come, on," Maggie said, "Let's get going, I think we may be late."

Maggie and Launa walked to the campsite to find everybody else there and Chris explaining the elimination system.

"After the challenge, both teams will come here. The losing team will vote off one of its members. The member who does not receive a candy heart," Chris held up a small, pink candy heart with "safe" written on it, "Is eliminated and will be taken away by boat, to never set foot on the island again."

"Now, let's get you guys back to the lodges. I'll ring you kids when the challenge is ready," Chris said and started strolling down a paved trail from the campsite.

"Wait," Tiana said, "Couldn't we have taken that trail to the campfire site, instead of wandering through the forest?"

Chris smirked, "Why, I guess we could of."

"Ooh, Chris," Settler growled, shaking her fist at the host.

Lynn gently put her hand on Settler's raised fist and pulled her fist down, "He's not worth it,"

"Come on, guys," Nathan called out to the contestants, "Let's head down to the lodges,"

The contestants followed Nathan down to the lodges, where they separated into their designated cabins.

"Woah," Launa gasped.

The girls had walked into the living area of their lodge. It was full of simple but comfy tan furniture. The floor was covered by a fluffy white rug. The room had a large flat screen TV on a wall and a computer bank lined up on another.

"I know," Xochitl said, fingering a beige curtain embroidered with delicate pink flowers, "This isn't actually cheap or lame. I'm impressed."

"Wee!" Tiana exclaimed. She happily threw herself on the carpet and stated making carpet angels. "This is so awesome!"

Lynn giggled and joined Tiana, "Hmm, this is fluffy."

"I'm going to head up stairs," Annabelle declared. Launa, Maggie, Cashmere and Xochitl followed her up the banister. Lynn, Settler and Tiana stayed downstairs checking out the rest of the main area.

The girls came upon two rooms each with a team name on it.

Annabelle went into the room marked, "Sensitive Capillaries", before sheepishly peeking her head out and saying, "Do you guys mind staying out here while I change?"

Launa and Maggie nodded yes but Cashmere just blew a stray piece of hair out her face and scowled.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Some people need to grow up," Cashmere said harshly, "This girl is in high school but can't change in front of other people?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

A few minutes later, Annabelle opened the door and stated, "All ready now."

The Sensitive Capillaries girls walked into their room. It had calm blue walls and the room held two bunk beds and a single. The room had a soft pink rug and a window overlooking the grounds of the island.

"Nice," Launa remarked and the other girls nodded in approval.

Annabelle was now dressed in a fluffy white sweater with black pants and held her damp clothes in her hand.

"Do any of you guys know where to put these?" She inquired.

Maggie pointed to a laundry chute and said, "How about here?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"A laundry chute?" Cashmere said, "When was this place built, 1913?"

 **…** **.Break…**

"My grandmother's house has a laundry chute," Maggie wistfully mentioned, "My brothers always used it to shove my ballet gear down there, though."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Annabelle pushed her clothes down the chute and remarked, "I hope they take good care of them, they're delicate wash."

* * *

Two interns in the laundry room are now holding the clothes Annabelle just put down the chute. They're looking quizzically at them, like they don't know what to do.

The male speaks up, "Hey, Connie have you ever washed clothes before?" He has black hair and blue eyes and is wearing a t-shirt.

Connie, who has short wavy red hair and is wearing black slacks and a yellow shirt, answers, "No, but we're going to have to try. I don't want to mess this up."

She shoves the clothes into the washing machine and stares at it for a moment before shrugging and turning all the dials to high. She goes to start the machine before the boy interjects.

"Hey, don't we need this detergent thingy," He holds up a box of super bubble detergent.

"Yeah, thanks Danny." Connie takes the box before asking, "How much do we put in?"

"Don't they say that in the instructions?"

"Depends," Connie says dryly, "Can you read Japanese?"

"Hmm, just put a whole lot."

Connie stares at Danny, wondering if she should take his advice before shrugging and pouring as much as she can in. With that she slams the washing machine's door shut and starts it.

"What now?" She asks.

"We wait," Danny replies.

 _A few minutes later…_

"And then Clarissa just walked away, can you believe it?" Danny said.

He and Connie were sitting on the opposite side of the room, chatting.

"I can." Connie replies, "I've heard your puns and they're really awful. Which is saying a lot since puns are pretty terrible in general."

"Hmmph," Danny says before asking, "Connie, are washing machines supposed to bubble?"

"Huh?" Connie whirled around to see the washing machine spewing out bubbles.

"What the-. How could this happen?" Connie runs to the machine and starts desperately smashing buttons, but the bubbles only increase in size and number.

"I don't know, but it's pretty _unbelieveabubble_."

"C'mon Danny," Connie groans.

The washing machine keeps running and the entire floor is soon coated with bubbles.

"Urgh! How do we make this stop!" Connie screams, banging on the washing machine in frustration.

Suddenly, the door to the room slams open and Chef Hatchet stomps in before slipping on the bubbles with a resounding thud.

"Interns!" He bellows from the floor, "What is going on here!"

Connie and Danny share a look, "Uh-Oh."

* * *

Maggie had put her luggage on one of the beds before asking Launa, "Launa, want to share a bunk?"

"Sure," Launa smiled and climbed to the top bunk, "I hope you don't mind I took the top bunk,"

"Not at all," Maggie said.

Cashmere declared, "I'll take this single."

Annabelle hoisted her bags on the other bunk bed and said, "Then I'll take this here bed with Tiana."

Satisfied with bedding arrangements, Cashmere plopped down on her bed and grabbed a makeup brush and started applying concealer to her blemish.

Finally noticing Cashmere's bruise, Annabelle asked, "Cashmere, what happened?"

Cashmere growled and snapped her makeup brush in two, "Settler."

"Oh," Annabelle said softly, slightly frightened by Cashmere's strength.

 _Meanwhile at the Arteries' room…_

Xochitl walked into her room alone. This room had the same set-up, but with only one bunk bed. It was painted a rainy gray with a crème colored carpet.

The artist put her bags on the on the bottom bunk bed before plopping down on the bed and taking out her sketchbook and getting lost in her own world.

A few minutes later, Settler called up, "Hey, guys! They have a mini-fridge and chips!"

The girls upstairs, even Cashmere, decided to walk downstairs to have some chips and dip while watching old episodes of "Total Drama Island" to get a feel of what they were about to face.

 ** _At the boy's lodge…_**

The boys walked into their living area. The walls were painted a navy blue with a wooden floor. Their furniture was a stylish black and they had the same electronic set-up as the girls.

Graham nodded in approval at the TV, "Nice to know I can still watch my animes."

"And my sports," Atlas interjected.

Nathan walked over to look around the room before gleefully saying, "I think I can set up my amp here!"

"Oh, joy," Graham snarked, "I didn't want to miss metal music pounding throughout my skull,"

"That's what my sister says too," Nathan naively exclaimed.

Ashton and Hans looked in disapproval at Graham.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Why is Graham being so mean to Nathan?" Ashton remarked, "You would think he'd be especially nice considering he'd be likely to get stringed up on the flagpole next to him. If Nathan was eight inches shorter and 50lb lighter."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Graham really shouldn't be so mean," Hans said, "It's not making him popular here."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Graham, Hans, Jason, Nathan, Ashton and Jayce ventured up to their rooms, each marked by team name.

"Figures," Graham remarks, "Chris can get us a giant lodge with a flat screen TV and multiple computers, but not separate rooms."

Jayce and Ashton wandered into the capillaries' room. The room is painted a dull brown with one bunkbed and a single.

Jayce says to Ashton, "Mind if I take the single?"

"Knock yourself out," He replies, "I'm going to get Ricky to see what bunk he prefers."

"Kay," Jayce replied.

Ashton walked out of the room and when the door closed, Jayce smirked at the camera.

"This is a much better place to talk to you guys at home then the confessionals," Jayce said, "Personally, I think the confessionals are awful, just like that Chris fellow."

"Anyway," Jayce propped his feet lazily up on the bed frame, "I think it'd be nice if you knew my plan so slower people can catch up."

"I'm not going to be some lame movie villain, in fact, I don't think I'll be that bad," The basket-case jock admitted.

"Just a few tricks and ploys, maybe a few broken arms if people aren't careful," Jayce said casually.

Jayce turned around so he was facing the audience, his black hair swooping over his face, obscuring his eyes. The sun from the window glinted on his teeth, creating a very creepy image.

"But shh, it's our secret," Jayce smirked

The camera menacingly cuts off to the arteries' room.

 _At the Arteries' room…_

The Arteries boys walked into their red painted room. The room contained two bunk beds and a single.

Jason and Graham immediately both claimed the single, causing them to argue.

"I claimed this first Graham," Jason stated.

"You did not!" Graham responded.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"I am not playing this elementary game with you!" Graham snarled.

"Me neither!" Jason huffed.

They both plopped down on the bed.

"Guys, you shouldn't argue so early in the game," Nathan said.

"Yeah, you'll tear the team apart before the first challenge," Hans appealed.

Atlas walked, in munching on a doughnut, and threw his duffel bag on the single bed. "Hey, any of you guys using this bed?"

Before Jason or Graham could answer, Hans butted in, "Nope,"

Graham and Jason glared at him, but the damage was already done.

"Cool," Atlas said.

With Atlas taking the single bed, the boys turned to each other.

"Wanna bunk with me?" Jason asked.

"Sure," Graham replied.

"I call top!" Jason exclaimed.

"No, _I_ want the top," Graham responded.

Hans groaned, thinking this wasn't going to end soon.

Luckily for all involved, it did.

"Contestants! Report to the mess hall immediately for your first challenge!" Chris' voice crackled from an unseen intercom in both of the houses.

The cast went to the mess hall, some begrudgingly.

When they had all reported to the lunchroom, Chris pushed a button on the megaphone he had on hand and a deafening beep rang out.

The contestants covered their ears and groaned.

When the beeping stopped, Graham said, "What did you do that for? We weren't talking!"

"I know," Chris smirked, "Now that I have your attention, I have your first challenge. Challenge number uno will be the Heart Triathlon! Teams will compete in three parts. In the first challenge three members from each team will bike, run and swim to the finish line. Each contestant will complete one leg of the race and pass on this," Chris took a breath and held up a red flag, "Flag to the next member of their team after completing their leg of the race. You can't start your leg of the race until you have the flag from your teammate. Whichever team crosses the finish line first wins."

Many of the contestants smiled at the thought of an athletic challenge but a few frowned.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Great, an athletic challenge!" Launa exclaims.

 **…** **.Break…**

"I can totally rock this challenge!" Atlas hollers.

 **…** **.Break…**

"I defiantly should be in this challenge," Jayce says, "And I don't want any one opposing it."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Great, I thought this was Heart Island, not Jock Paradise," Graham said, peeking up from his manga to speak.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"The second part," Chris continues, "Will be a timed challenge. Four members of each team will compete to build the best heart out of the materials we provide."

 **...Confessionals…**

"What are they gonna give us?" Xochitl asked, "Sawdust and glue?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"The last part will be one member reading a poem he or she wrote to me. I will award the challenge to the best poem. Now you guys are going to choose who competes in what, so discuss!" Chris finished.

 **...Confessionalals…**

The teams immediately gathered up and started discussing.

* * *

A few minutes later, the teams came up with the following positions:

Capillaries:

Biker- Jayce

Runner- Launa

Swimmer- Maggie

Builders- Annabelle, Ricky, Tiana and Cashmere

Poet- Ashton

Arteries:

Biker- Atlas

Runner- Settler

Swimmer- Jason

Builders- Graham, Lynn, Hans and Nathan

Poet - Xochitl

* * *

"Okay, stop!" Chris exclaimed, "Contestants, follow me to the stadium."

The cast went to a giant sports facility with a track bending around the circumference and a medium sized swimming pool near the center.

"Not bad," Jayce muttered.

"Why didn't you show us this on our tour?" Launa asked, looking in amazement at the stadium.

"For the reveal," Chris answered. He directed his attention to the other contestants, "Ok bikers, line up!"

Jayce and Atlas stepped up to the orange paved track and glared at each other.

Two interns ran up and passed them their flags and two blue bikes with the Total Drama logo on it.

"Are you really giving yourself advertisement on your own show?" Jayce asked while examining the bike.

"You forgot the best part. Interns! Helmets!" Chris yelled.

The interns brought over matching helmets with Chris's face plastered on them.

"Great," Jayce responded sarcastically.

"I know," Chris said smugly.

"Swimmers!" Chris directed, "Go change in the lockerooms and then go to the pool!"

At Chris's demand, Maggie ran up to the locker rooms. Jason followed Maggie to a separate locker room begrudgingly after a gentle push from his teammates.

 **...Confessionals…**

Jason sighed, "I was the only one with swimming experience on the team so they made me do this challenge, but swimming isn't my favorite thing."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

A few minutes they both exited the locker rooms. Maggie was wearing a pale pink swimsuit and Jason had on a pair of purple swim trunks.

Settler gasped in glee at Jason's noticeably pale body. Jason noticed this and sighed.

 **...Confessionals…**

"He's really pale, just like a vampire!" Settler squealed in delight.

 **…** **.Break…**

"See," Jason said, "When you're not a tan surfer dude, they treat you like a freak."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Runners, you'll have to line up at the track after the bikers finish," Chris instructed.

Launa and Settler nodded to show they understood.

"Okay, anybody not competing move to the side," Chris said motioning to the sidelines.

The rest of the cast moved to the side ready to cheer for their teammates.

"Bikers, are you ready!" Chris bellowed.

Atlas eagerly nodded and Jayce got up from picking something off the ground and agreed.

"Mount your vehicles!" Chris exclaimed. "And ready, set, flag girl take it off!" Chris boomed, gesturing to the stadium door and grinning widely.

Chef trudged into the stadium and up to the track. He was wearing a checkered ref's shirt with a matching tutu. He held a checkered racing flag tightly in his hand. The contestants looked at him horrified.

Chef raised his flag, half-heartedly waved it and grunted "Go," before leaving the stadium growling, "I hate my job."

At the wave of Chef's flag, Atlas shot onto the track, huffing and puffing. Jayce followed breezily behind.

Atlas was taking a clear lead ahead of Jayce who was smiling and casually riding down the track.

About midway on the track, Jayce was few meters behind Atlas. Jayce pulled up to Atlas, who was running out of steam and regretting his hasty start. He passed Atlas by a couple of feet and dropped a lumpy rock from his fingers.

The rock fell right in front of Atlas's bike and his front wheel bumped into it. Atlas veered to the left before his bike tilted and crashed on the track.

The contestants gasped at the accident and Atlas laid there, stunned from the crash and gaping.

Jayce saw the crash and silently smirked to himself.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I knew I was going to win anyway," Jayce cackled, "But a little extra insurance never hurt anybody, did it?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Jayce crossed the finish line, jumped off his bike and ran up to Maggie, thrusting the red marker in her hand and exclaimed, "Maggie! Swim!"

Maggie looked at the flag in her hand and the fallen Atlas before recovering from her shock and diving into the pool.

Jason watched Maggie dive into the water before remembering he needed the flag to start his part of the challenge. "Atlas! You still need to finish the race!" He yelled.

Atlas sprung up with realization and hopped on his bike, rushing to the finish line.

But by the time he managed to shove the flag into Jason's hands Maggie was already finishing up the return trip on her swim.

Jason jumped into the pool and started frantically swimming, while Maggie climbed out of the pool.

She ran across the green grass and bounded up to the track. She passed Launa the flag and Launa quickly congratulated her before running down the track.

Settler, started nervously tapping her foot and called to Jason, "C'mon vampire boy! You can do it!"

Jason hopped out of the pool and started running. He muttered to himself, "I must have water in my ears, because I swear she just said 'vampire boy'."

He passed Settler the flag and she started bounding down the track after Launa. But Launa's head start and athleticism carried her to the finish line over the slow hipster.

"And the Capillaries win!" Chris exclaimed as Launa ran over the checkered finish line.

A cheering roar rang out from the Capillaries while the Arteries consecutively groaned.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I know it wasn't my fault I fell," Atlas claimed, "But then whose was it?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Maggie, Launa and Jayce ran up to their celebrating teammates.

"You did it!" Annabelle exclaimed.

"Yeah, great job guys!" Ricky congratulated.

"I know, I'm so happy," Launa squealed.

"I knew we could do it," Jayce smiled, placing a hand on Launa's shoulder, causing Launa to blush a brilliant crimson when she felt the touch.

The Arteries were not so happy.

Atlas, Settler and Jason walked in shame to their disappointed teammates.

When they came over, Graham looked sympathetically at Jason and said, "You did the best you could,"

"Yeah, we might have won if _somebody_ didn't fall over because of air," Xochitl spat out.

"He tried," Hans said in defense of Atlas, "Plus, it looked like a bad fall."

The other team members directed their attention to Atlas who was nursing his sore arm.

"Are you okay?" Lynn asked, looking at his arm in sympathy.

Before Atlas had a chance to reply, Chris wandered over to the team and interrupted, "If you hurt your arm, you better go check yourself in with Nurse Hatchet."

Atlas quickly realized "Nurse Hatchet" was probably Chef in a horrendous nurse's uniform, and thought of him crushing his arm while examining it.

"No thanks," Atlas said quickly, a glint of fear in his eyes.

"Alright," Chris responded.

Chris walked in front of the teams and called out, "Contestants! Follow me for the next challenge."

Chris led the contestants out of the stadium to an open field with a big pile of building supplies and other stuff in the center. On either side was a picnic blanket with a team's logo on it and a toolbox. A couple of chairs were set up for the cast's viewing pleasure.

"If you're in the building challenge go to your designated team blankets," Chris instructed.

Lynn, Nathan, Hans and Graham walked over to the Arteries' blanket, while Annabelle, Cashmere, Tiana and Ricky went over to the Capillaries' blanket.

Annabelle caught Hans's eye and gave a small wave, which he whole-heartedly returned. The day-dreamer giggled a little bit to herself over Hans's enthusiasm.

"Your hour starts now!" Chris announced to the teams who immediately started brainstorming.

"What are we gonna do?" Tiana asked her teammates.

"We have to make a heart, right?" Ricky said.

The other Capillaries nodded in agreement.

"Then why not make it giant!" He exclaimed.

His teammates looked in doubt at the outrageous statement.

Annabelle walked over to the pile of supplies and examined the materials

"Well, there are certainly enough supplies to carry it out," She said, holding a giant sheet of metal. "We _could_ do it, if you guys want to."

Ricky grinned, "What do you guys think?"

"I think it's awesome!" Tiana exclaimed, reassured that it was possible, "I can't wait to paint something like this!"

"Just as long as I don't break a nail," Cashmere responded.

"Then let's do it!" Ricky happily cried out.

The Arteries were sitting in agonized silence, hearing the Capillaries happily chat their ideas.

"Well, we aren't going to win the challenge just sitting here," Lynn said. "Does anybody have any ideas?"

"We could do a giant heart monster, like they do in the animes," Graham suggested.

The other Arteries looked at each other, wondering who was going to reject his idea before Lynn spoke up.

"Graham, I don't think that'll work," She said gently.

Graham snorted, "Of course, nobody ever appreciates the genius of animes and mangas."

An awkward silence insured before Hans spoke up, "We could carve a heart."

"Carve?" Nathan questioned.

"Carving, with a knife and a sander," Hans answered, "We have all the supplies and I think I could add a little extra."

"What's 'a little extra'," Graham asked.

"I'll tell you, but we have to be quiet," Hans said.

The competing Arteries huddled up and started whispering.

Launa, Maggie, Jayce and Ashton were sitting on chairs near the Capillaries' area, watching their teammates excitedly build and gather materials.

"I don't get what's so exciting about hammering a couple boards," Jayce scoffed.

Launa shrugged, "I've never done it before, but it doesn't seem too bad. It could be really fun."

"I doubt it," Jayce replied.

"My boyfriend builds scenery for our school plays," Maggie said, "He says it's like building a whole world from the ground up."

"You have a boyfriend?" Launa mischievously inquired.

"Y-Yes," Maggie blushed.

"What's his name?" Launa pushed.

"A-Alexander," Maggie stuttered.

"Oooh," Launa said playfully, causing Maggie to giggle.

The two started chatting and Launa's playful and open personality allowed Maggie to open up.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I learned a lot of things about Maggie," Launa recounted, "She and her boyfriend go to a performing art school where she specializes in dance, specifically ballet, and he specializes in theater tech. I also learned she's been dancing since she was five," Launa shook her head in disbelief, "That must take a lot of dedication."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Jayce sat in boredom as Launa and Maggie chatted and noticed Ashton nervously fidgeting.

"What's wrong?" He said, quirking an eyebrow, "We didn't put our trust in the wrong person, did we?"

* * *

 _At the team discussions…_

 _"_ _Anybody willing to write the poem?" Jayce asked._

 _Ricky remembered something and enthusiastically replied, "Ashton's a writer! I'm sure he could ace this challenge!"_

 _"_ _You think you could write the poem, Ashton?" Jayce said._

 _Ashton looked at his team, all of them eagerly waiting for his reply._

 _Ashton stuttered an answer, "Y-Yeah."_

 _"_ _Cool," Jayce replied breezily, "You're our poet now."_

* * *

"No, I can handle this," Ashton answered.

 **...Confessionals…**

"They did!" Ashton exclaimed, "I've never written a poem before in my life! I feel so awful!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Chris once again stood at the dock, ending the episode, "Will the Arteries' losing streak continue or will Hans 'little extra' guarantee a win? Will Atlas ever find out about Jayce's sabotage? And will Ashton lose the poetry contest for his team? Find out on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"


	7. Challenge 1, Part 2: Poetry Schmoetry

_**Authors Note: Sorry about the wait! Had a bit of a writer's block towards this story. Thanks again to maycontestdrew for the poetry challenge.**_

 **Disclaimer: I am not a poet! Nor do I own the Total Drama Franchise**

* * *

Chris grins and starts introducing the episode, this time in the stadium, "Welcome back to Total Drama Heart Island! Last episode the contestants competed in this stadium," He throws in hands up in the air and waits, grinning.

A few seconds pass with nothing happening and Chris whispers, still smiling, "Show the audience the stadium, intern."

A sound of recognition squeaks by the intern's lips and the camera swivels around to reveal the interior of the stadium, including the pool and track.

The camera turns back to Chris and he breaks his pose, slightly relieved, "They competed in three parts of a race, the first part of the race was Jayce and Atlas biking to the finish line, and once Maggie and Jason were given their team flags, they jumped into the swimming pool to complete the second part and swam to be the first to give their flags to Launa and Settler who broke into a full out run to the finish line."

"But on the bike track," Chris gasped, seemingly taken aback by what he already knew, "Jayce cheated and put a rock in Atlas's path, knocking him over and securing victory for the Capillaries."

He then shrugged, "There are unfortunately," Chris said in a way that made you think he meant the opposite of unfortunate, "No rules against this, so Jayce will stay on the island unpunished."

His "sad" demeanor was replaced by a happy one when he announced "The contestants are now in the building challenge, where we just learned that Ashton, the Capillaries' designated poet, has never written a poem before! Man, seriously! Who would've known? Find out what happens next on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"

* * *

Each of the teams' builders were rushing back and forth from the pile of supplies and trying their best to hide whatever they took.

At the Arteries' waiting spot, Xochitl was scribbling almost frantically in her black sketchbook, her nose a few fractions of an inch away from the page.

The "scritch scratch" of the pencil on paper was enough to attract the uncharacteristically quiet Settler.

She peered over and tried to read what Xochitl was writing but Xochitl quickly shut her book before she could even read one word.

Seeing Xochitl's dark glare, Settler quickly tried to make things right, "I'm sorry, you just seemed so into it, that I wanted to see what you were writ-"

Xochitl cut her off stating, "Nobody is allowed to see my journal, ever. Unless I feel they can."

Settler opened her mouth to ask a question before Xochitl quickly shut her down. "No, I do not feel like you can."

'O-Okay," Settler said, careful not to disagree with the artist.

The hipster glanced over at rest of her teammates, Atlas was staring at the sky with a mix of confusion, question and gloom on his face and Jason distractedly turning the pages of his novel. She sighed and decided to watch the builders start constructing on their hearts.

* * *

The Capillaries were starting on the framework on their heart, finding it much more difficult than they imagined.

"Guys, I'm a little worried about our heart," Annabelle started gently, while struggling to push the wood into place so Ricky can nail it together, "What if we don't finish in time?"

Ricky sighed, "Then I guess we lose," He soon perked up and said, "But that won't happen!"

His teammates smiled encouragingly, but they also nervously glanced back at the clock.

* * *

The competing Arteries were lounging around while Hans carefully carved a wooden heart.

"Hey," Lynn spoke up, "Why did you guys audition for this show?"

Nathan responded quickly, "I joined so I could promote my band, 'Brass Knuckle Death Punch'!"

"You have a band?" Lynn asked, intrigued.

"Well, it's a work in progress," Nathan admitted.

"What about you Graham?" Lynn questioned.

"Hmm, I thought it would be a good experience," He answered simply.

The trio was silent for a few minutes, before Lynn commented, "I feel kinda bad, letting Hans do all the work."

"I'm sure he doesn't mind," Nathan assured her, "Hans, are you okay with carving the heart all by yourself?"

Hans looked up from his work, "Yeah, it would be more difficult with more than one person."

"Cool,"

 **...Confessionals…**

"I still feel a little guilty," Lynn admitted. "I wonder how Nathan was cool with it?"

 **…** **.Break…**

"I always just take people's word for stuff, if they say they're fine, they're fine," Nathan shrugged.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

The competing Capillaries had finished the frame for their heart and were reinforcing it with half an hour left on the clock.

Cashmere looked in annoyance at her teammates who were weakly hammering the framework of the heart, "C'mon y'all. If I can put up a barn in 12 hours then we can make a giant heart in one."

Tiana quirked in eyebrow in confusion, "I thought you said you didn't want to break a nail."

"And I still don't. But I can still hammer."

"Hmm."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Why do y'all assume just because wanna look nice means I can't be a contributing member to society?" Cashmere asked, "I mean I just got a victory mani-pedi for getting on the show."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"And…done!" Ricky exclaimed, hitting the final nail on the heart with an earsplitting bang that had the other contestants groaning and covering their ears.

"Uh, Ricky," Annabelle said.

"Yeah,"

"I think you broke the board,"

"…"

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Hans fretted, "They already finished their heart!"

"Well, kind of," Graham remarked.

"Kind of?"

"I think Ricky broke a board," Graham said and the Arteries watched Ricky run to the pile of supplies and look for a matching board.

"Huh," Nathan quipped, "Didn't know you could do that."

"You'd think the wood they supplied would be stronger," Lynn wondered.

 ***Static***

Chris sits in the editing room, giggling over his own joke.

"Chris! There's an intern sayin' he's gonna sue us- what are you laughin at?" Chef asked as he barged into the room.

"The contestants don't know that I gave them weakened wood!" Chris laughs, wiping tears from his eye.

"What's wrong with you? That ain't funny, funny is when one of the contestants gets beat up," Chef responded. "You need to get a life out of this show."

"Shut up! This is hilarious!"

 ***Static***

"How are you doing on the heart Hans?" Lynn asked nervously.

"Well, I finished carving and I'm implanting the gears in now,"

"Okay,"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Not that I don't believe in Hans, I'm just worried about the time," Lynn admitted.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

 _30 minutes later…_

* * *

Chris waltzed in onscreen and called, "Stop! Time for judging!"

Chris viewed the Capillaries' heart first. They had built a heart over 5ft tall and 3ft wide. Tiana had painted it a deep blue with swirls of bright pink running around the shape.

The host leaned over the heart, inspecting it.

"Hmm," Chris murmured, "Bright, eye-catching, and gigantic," He straightened out and announced, "This will be hard to beat!"

The Capillaries grinned at each other while some of the Arteries fidgeted in anticipation.

He walked over to the Arteries' heart. It was a simple small heart that was barely bigger that Han's two cupped hands holding it. It hadn't been painted and was beigey with its natural wood.

"Nice and raw," Chris remarks, "But also so plain. Where's the bedazzle?"

Hans pushed a small, previously unnoticed button near the back of the heart in response, and little golden bird popped out.

The contestants gasped in awe as the bird chirped a short song before retreating to its home.

Chris nodded, "Well, that earns the Chris McLean Mark of Approval," Before smiling and flashing a thumbs up to the audience.

He held the pose for a few moments, before Hans said, "Does that mean we win?"

Chris broke his pose and groaned, "Yes. What do you think the 'Chris McLean Mark of Approval' means?"

Hans shrugged before the noncompeting Arteries swarmed the competing members of the team.

"Yeah, we did it!" Nathan cheered.

"Ah, ah, ah," Chris interrupted, "No celebrating yet. We still have one more challenge left, the poetry challenge!"

All the teenage cast members stifled a groan except Xochitl.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I really thought we could have won," Tiana said disappointed.

 **…** **.Break…**

"This is great," Ashton murmurs into his hand, which is over his face, "We're going to lose, and it'll be all my fault."

 **…** **.Break…**

"This sort of stuff seems a lot more fun to watch on TV, but in real life it's pretty boring. I couldn't hear a word they were sayin' on the floor and near the chairs wasn't a picnic either. Xochitl was hissin' at me like a cat and Atlas and Jason weren't talkin' at all!" Settler complained.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Contestants, follow me!" Chris motioned for the teenaged cast to follow him and led them out of view.

Chef trudged onto camera and picked up the heart the Capillaries left. He grunted and carried it off screen, muttering, "Lousy kids, making me carry their stuff,"

* * *

The teams were only yards away from the area which occupied the building challenge. The place was a pleasant scene of two picnic tables with multiple flowers and weeds strewn throughout the grass.

"Oooh," Tiana awed as she picked up a nearby daisy.

"Inspiring scene, ain't it," Chris said. Before anybody could comment, Chris replied, "It'd better be because you have 15 minutes to write a poem, starting now!"

Xochitl sat down at her table and immediately started scribbling, while Ashton started looking at the scenery for inspiration.

Most of the contestants decided not to disturb the writers and settled themselves around the leafy green stalks of grass. Those who did not have the foresight were blocked by Settler who said, "I would leave the chick alone while she's writing." Her wary glances back to the distracted Xochitl managed to effectively frighten the contestants away.

Jayce and Launa had gotten onto the topic of sport stats and were talking animatedly about it. The conversation only confused Maggie who wandered off to make flower crowns with Tiana. Tiana was using daisies for hers while Maggie used the various wildflowers to make her crown.

Hans was describing how he and his teammates built the winning heart to Annabelle, who was a bit more interested in the person on the other end of the conversation than the topic at hand.

Cashmere was fingering her orange locks and wondering if she used a dollop to much conditioner last time she showered.

Jason and Graham were reading their book and manga, respectively, while Settler tiredly observed the wildlife around her.

Lynn and Nathan were talking about the playlists at the last concerts they had visited and Ricky and Atlas both stared off into space.

* * *

 _15 minutes of this later…_

* * *

"Time!" Chris shouted. Xochitl and Ashton stopped writing while their teammates took this as cue to assemble on the picnic tables as best as they could. With the limited amount of space available their best wasn't very good.

Chris impatiently waited for the "Hey!"s and "Stop pushing!"s to stop before saying, "Arteries, since you won the last challenge, let's hear your poem first."

Xochitl stood up proudly and started to read her poem,

 _"_ _Rain poured from the sky and pitter-pattered against the abandoned windowsill,_

 _Cleaning the crevices full of cobwebs and dust._

 _The drops slithered slowly down the window,_

 _Like tears,_

 _Tears of sadness for its abandonment and fear for its future._

 _The windowsill's only importance in the world was within the many stories and secrets it held,_

 _And it seemed to creak with weight of the knowledge it could never share._

 _The roars from faraway trembled the ground and the sign in front of the house swung and swung,_

 _The words 'condemned' lighting up under the moon._

 _The trucks rumbled up and crashed into the house, splitting boards and destroying history._

 _And the windowsill creaked one last goodbye,_

 _Then crumbled,"_ Xochitl finished.

The cast had wide eyes and shivered at the last word.

"That was creepy," Chris blatantly said.

"Hmmph" Xochitl responded, and sat back down at the Arteries' picnic table.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I thought poems were supposed to rhyme," Settler looked a little disturbed at the poem's contents, "And be _nice_."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'm screwed," Ashton fretted while glancing over his poem, his hands trembling nervously.

 **…** **.Break…**

"The windowsill was supposed to represent the unshared potential of many people while the bulldozers represent the systems that try to restrict them," Xochitl explained.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Ashton, your turn," Chris directed. "Hopefully it will be less creepy," Chris muttered under his breath

Ashton stood up and nervously mumbled his poem,

 _"_ _Flowers are green,_

 _Petals are blue,_

 _People are mean,_

 _Except those who say, 'I love you',"_

He then sat back down, staring at his lap trying not to look up at the disappointed stares that were sure to meet him.

 **...Confessionals…**

"What. The. Hell." Jayce said, creepily calm, before blowing up and screaming, "I thought he said he could write!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"Heh," Xochitl smirked.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"That was short," Chris remarked, "But it did not creep me out, so you win,"

The cast was silently taking it in for a moment before the Capillaries started cheering and the Arteries started protesting.

"But my poem was clearly better!" Xochitl ranted.

"Yes, but it was creepy, my little goth," Chris said sickeningly sweet.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I'm not goth!" Xochitl huffed.

 **…** **.Break…**

"I feel bad," Ashton admitted, "Hers was better, but at the same time I didn't want to lose,"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Jason and Graham were sitting in the boy's lodge, discussing the upcoming elimination.

"I think we should make an alliance," Jason proposed. Graham nodded in agreement and Jason continued, "But we need at least one more person to make a difference."

Graham proposed an idea, "How about…"

 **...Confessionals…**

"She squealed so loud when we asked her," Jason lamented, rubbing his ears.

 **…** **.Break…**

"This is so cool!" Settler said. "I've never been _asked_ to join a group!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

The Arteries sat on the stumps in the elimination ceremony, a roaring fire in the center.

Chris walked out with a tray of 7 candy hearts, "Well, Arteries. You lost the first challenge today, not a very good start. You'll have to bid one of your contestants a not so well farewell."

He looked over at the moping contestants and said, "I assume you all know who you're voting for?"

Without waiting for a reply, he stated, "Good, now head to the confessionals to cast your vote,"

The Arteries trudged to the confessionals and started voting for the contestant who was going to be the first eliminated.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I'm voting for Atlas, he messed up the athletic challenge!" Xochitl claimed.

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'll vote for Xochitl," Graham said, "Jason and I realized that despite the fact that she wrote a good poem and we lost for that challenge because of a biased host, if we don't vote for her, I might be eliminated!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"I'm voting for Graham," Lynn shrugged, "He was being a little whiny at the building challenge."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

The contestants had gathered back at the campfire site.

Chris announced, "We have tallied your votes and the following are safe."

"Hans,"

Chris tossed a candy heart at Hans who happily caught it.

"Lynn, Nathan, Settler,"

Chris threw the candies at the named and Nathan immediately nosily ate his, causing Lynn to giggle a bit.

 **...Confessionals…**

Lynn giggles, "I will have to teach him to chew his food less noisily."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

The remaining four contestants started getting nervous about their standings.

"Jason," Chris called out, throwing him his candy.

Jason caught it and nervously smiled at Graham.

"Graham, Xochitl, Atlas," Chris said, "You all messed up today."

"Xochitl, your creepy poem didn't satisfy me and you've been a tad mean." Chris told the artistic girl.

Xochitl "hmmphed" and stuck her nose up in the air.

"Graham, you've been being sarcastic and rude to everyone you've met!" Chris exclaimed.

Graham shrugged, but there was a bit of regret in his eyes.

"Atlas," Chris directed his attention to the popular boy, "You crashed for no reason and lost the athletic challenge for your teammates!"

Atlas looked sadly at the ground until Chris spoke up, "But, apparently your teammates didn't hold that against you since you're safe!"

Atlas whooped and tossed the candy Chris had thrown at him in his mouth.

Graham and Xochitl's statures of confidence had started breaking.

Graham was tugging on one of his hoodie cords while Xochitl aimlessly plucked on one her ukulele strings.

"And the person staying here today is…."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Graham!" The host said, tossing Graham is candy heart.

Graham let out a sigh of relief when Chris called his name and caught his reward.

"Xochitl, the Boat of Losers is waiting," Chris gestured to an old boat behind them.

Xochitl stood up and addressed her teammates, "I tried my best, and I feel good about how I played the game, yet-" She grabbed her ukulele and started playing a sad tune, "It's not like I feel happy about being eliminated."

She put on a sad smile and walked to the Boat of Losers which pulled away from the dock and into the night.

The cast watched the boat putty away until it was a small dot on the horizon, when they could no longer see the boat, Chris announced, "Aw, the first elimination ceremony. So many disappointed faces." He sucked in a great deal of air, "So refreshing."

* * *

The Arteries' girls sat in their nearly empty room with only two contestants.

"I hardly knew her but I kinda miss her," Lynn lamented about Xochitl's elimination.

Settler nodded guilty in agreement.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I feel a little guilty about voting Xochitl off," Settle admitted. "But somebody had to go, why not her?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Voting Results:

Atlas: Xochitl

Graham: Xochitl

Hans: Graham

Jason: Xochitl

Lynn: Graham

Nathan: Jason

Settler: Xochitl

Xochitl: Atlas

Votes:

Atlas: 1

Graham: 2

Jason: 1

 _Loser-_ Xochitl: 4

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: So sad that Xochitl had to leave! But somebody had to go first and she left with her dignity intact.**_


	8. Challenge 2, Part 1: Breakfast Diasater

**_Author's Note: Yay! Challenge 2! The story is progressing! I do not Total Drama or most of the characters in this story. On to the chapter!_**

* * *

Chris was hunched over, sitting on one of the stumps in the campfire area, roasting a marshmallow.

"Last time on Total Drama Heart Island," Chris began, standing up, "We had our first challenge."

"In our athletic challenge, team members raced in a triathlon to determine the winner. Ultimately Launa crossed the finish line first, making the score Capillaries one, Arteries zero." Chris said.

"In the second challenge, the contestants were told to build a heart in one hour and the Arteries took the gold with their cuckoo clock heart, tying the score," Chris stated.

"In the final challenge Ashton's considerably less creepy poem won, sending the Arteries off to our very first elimination ceremony!" Chris exclaimed, taking his marshmallow off the stick and bouncing it on his palm. "We had to say goodbye to the artistic Xochitl and the Arteries were one team member down. What will happen next on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"

Chris popped the marshmallow into his mouth before yelping, "Ow, hot! Chef! I need some water!"

* * *

The contestants were experiencing their first torturous breakfast with Chef Hatchet.

Annabelle gaped as a gelatinous brown glob was dropped on her plate.

"What are these?" She questioned, gently poking at the white, square blocks scattered throughout the "meal".

"I don't know? Tofu?" Said their black-haired server, Danny. He turned his head to Connie, who had been also been put on cafeteria duty with him."Tofu?"

She nodded her head in agreement and he turned back to Annabelle. "Tofu, definitely."

Annabelle looked at her food warily and went to the tables.

* * *

"I heard Xochitl was eliminated last night," Launa said to Maggie as she moved her tray up the lunch line.

"Really?" Maggie replied. "I thought Atlas would have gone home."

"Yeah, I guess they thought Xochitl deserved to go home more."

"I'm not sure _I_ would have voted for Atlas if I was on their team." Maggie said.

"He did have a pretty nasty wipeout, I feel bad for him. His arm must have hurt!"

Maggie nodded in agreement.

One place down, Jayce snickered.

 **...Confessionals…**

"It puts a little damper in my strategy that the poor sap didn't get eliminated," Jayce admitted. "But I'll get him out eventually. It was refreshing to see him eating pavement."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

Jayce's smirk turned into a grimace when Danny dropped the glop on his plate.

"What's this?" He practically growled as Maggie and Launa walked to the tables.

"Tofu," Danny replied, oblivious to Jayce's anger.

Jayce attempted to swallow his anger and trudged to the table, knowing that harming Danny would not help him the next elimination ceremony.

* * *

Hans stepped up next and received his helping. After seeing the white cubes in his meal he looked questionably up at the servers.

"Tofu," Connie answered.

Hans nodded and went to the tables.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Can tofu curdle?" Hans asked, "Because it looked curdled.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Cashmere was next to receive her portion.

"Hey, hot stuff," Danny flirted as he served her breakfast. "Sorry to serve you such awful food, but I'm sure any meal tastes great with you."

Cashmere grinned a seductive smile and winked at him before walking to her table.

* * *

Annabelle sat the Capillaries' table, glumly poking at her food. Before the contestants got their meals, Chris announced that the teams had to sit at different tables. Many contestants groaned at the notion, either because they had friends on the other team or because they wanted to make friends with people on the other team. Annabelle was the former.

The only contestant Annabelle had really connected with was Hans, who she couldn't really talk to right now, with the tables several feet apart. Thinking about him had a small blush come over her face and she cast a look over her teammates who were seated.

Maggie and Launa were still talking energetically, and even though they were both friendly and Annabelle knew they would not mind if she interjected, she decided not to interrupt. Jayce was seated across from though and even though he wasn't talking to them, Annabelle could tell he'd gotten attached to them since he tended to walk with them and interacted with them the most. Annabelle thought it was cute, like a puppy imprinting on the first person it sees.

Annabelle reflected on the Capillaries' room last night. Maggie and Launa had mostly passed tidbits about each other and their lives and theorized about who got eliminated, as they all got settled in before the Arteries girls returned. Cashmere mooned over her bruise, mumbling about how she had gotten worse, but none on international TV. Tiana had almost immediately crashed and Annabelle suspected she was not use to much excitement, even though the girl seemed to radiate it. Annabelle herself spent the night reading, trying to calm herself down after the day's event.

Annabelle glanced up at the lunch line and saw that other than Cashmere, no other Capillaries were going to go to the table for a while. Especially since the male server seemed to be try to chat with the contestants, especially the girls.

Cashmere took a seat near the center of the table, and almost immediately dug in. The other contestants noticed and tried taking bites of their own discarded food, thinking that it couldn't be half bad. Almost all of them simultaneously gagged and looked at Cashmere in curiosity, as she showed no signs of discomfort.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I grew up on a farm, though you probably guessed that, and one time my cousin Becky dared me to eat the pig slop. I was only eight at the time, so I went through with it. It wasn't too bad, and it was reassuring to know they treat our pig's good." Cashmere shuddered, "Still better than Ma's triple broccoli and cabbage stew. So yeah, that's what Chef's glop tastes like, not the stew, the slop. So I don't mind too much."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Ungrateful kids," Chef Hatchet fumed, "You make them a good old vegetarian friendly meal packed rich with vitamins and what do they do? Compare it with pig slop!"

"Uh, Chef," Chris's voice calls from outside the confessionals. "I don't think you're supposed to be in the confessionals."

"Oh, shut up pretty boy," Chef growled, "Don't act like I didn't see you in here the other day, ranting about your looks."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Nathan slid his tray up to a seat next to Graham, still on his mission to befriend the boy.

"Hey guys!" He said to Jason and Graham, "How ya' feeling?"

"Not good," Graham remarked, staring down his plate.

"Aww, why?"

"I almost got eliminated and I probably won't eat breakfast today," Graham answered.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't vote for you," Nathan said.

"Who did you vote for then?" Jason asked, curious.

"Um, can't really remember, it was kind of a blur," Nathan fibbed.

Jason and Graham looked at him perplexed for supposedly not remembering something that happened last night.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I feel bad about voting for Jason last night. I'm glad he didn't get eliminated, because I don't think the best way to befriend someone is to vote out their buddy!" Nathan sheepishly grinned. "I just didn't know who to vote for, so I removed everybody who I definitely didn't want to go home and just blindly stamped one. Next time Jason definitely makes the list!'

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Anyway…" Nathan said. "It sucked that we lost last night."

"Mmmh," Graham nodded.

"…"

 **...Confessionals…**

Nathan flung his hands up in the air, frustrated. "It's hard to have conversation with somebody when you know nothing about them!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Tiana gleefully skipped down with her meal, seemingly not bothered by the its contents, and plopped down next to Annabelle.

"Hi Anna!" She said, using her own nickname for the girl.

"Hi, Tiana." Annabelle responded.

"Are you excited for the day's challenges?" Tiana hummed. Annabelle could only guess she had just woken up in a great mood.

Annabelle shrugged, "Are you?"

Tiana smiled. "Yeah! I can't help but feel like the challenge is going to be great…." Her voice trailed off and her eyes froze on something on the floor.

"Tiana, are you okay?" Annabelle asked gently.

"….."

* * *

Jayce was sitting at his table thinking about how he could get back at someone for this awful breakfast when he heard an unholy shriek. He turned around to see Tiana quivering at a sight of a…..cockroach.

The infamous bug had been scavenging food when Tiana noticed it and now stood there perplexed at the eerie creature and freaking out Tiana in the process.

While most of the contestants seemed like they couldn't care less about the bug, Jayce included, he took it as an opportunity to enact some good old fashioned revenge.

Jayce loaded as much of the goop on his spoon as he could, and while the contestants were distracted by Tiana, flicked right into Danny's right eye.

Danny stood there a little shocked for a second before wiping the slop off his face and smirking at Connie.

"That's the game you want to play, eh?" He said, grabbed his ladle and plunged into the slop.

"Danny…" Connie said as she eyed the ladle.

"Then I declare war!" Danny exclaimed and threw almost a pound of glop on the front of Connie's shirt.

Some of the contestants took this as a cue to start their own personal food fight.

* * *

"Food fight!" Nathan gleefully cried and he flung a small amount of food on the eye of one of Graham's glasses.

Jason chuckled and threw more of the glop so it covered the rest of Graham's glasses.

"I hope you know this means I will take revenge," Graham stated and chucked almost his entire portion of food onto Nathan's face.

Chaos soon ensured between the three as they competed to see who could throw more food on each other's face.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I think that was bonding," Nathan smiled while covered almost entirely in Chef's glop.

 **…** **.Break…**

"Usually I don't like to act like such a silly teenager," Graham admitted as he carefully wiped his glasses free of Chef's, now crusty, glop. "But this was actually sort of fun."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I like Nathan," Jason exclaimed, his hair sticking in every which way with the slop stuck in it. "He knows how to party!"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Tiana shakenly picked up a spoon and flicked an almost miniscule amount of slop on the cockroach.

The cockroach twitched in delight and scurried out of the cafeteria to the relieved sighs of Tiana and Annabelle, who had been worriedly watching the frightened girl.

* * *

Launa fidgeted as she tried to resist the urge to join the fight. Then she had an idea.

"Does anybody dare me to hit someone in the back of the head with Chef's glop?" She asked.

"What? No!" Maggie answered.

"I dare you to hit Atlas in the back of the head with this slop," Jayce quickly replied.

* * *

Atlas was sitting in his seat when he felt a medium amount sized of goo hit him in the back of the neck.

"What the," He said as he grabbed his neck. "What kind of jerk did this?"

He immediately looked guilty. "Oops, shouldn't have said the j- word."

Hans, who was sitting across from Atlas, oblivious from the fight, looked puzzled. "The j-word?"

* * *

"Launa!" Maggie gasped.

"He dared me!" Launa exclaimed as she pointed to Jayce.

In response Jayce somewhat sheepishly shrugged.

* * *

Chef barged through the backdoor of the kitchen after watching the chaos on video. He found Connie and Danny mid fighting stance. Connie had the slop in her hand and posed to throw it at Danny who had taken a tray and was using it as a shield. He grabbed them by the back of their shirts and unceremoniously escorted from the kitchen before taking their place as server.

Ashton, who was next in line, asked, "Um, do we still get to eat-"

"No!" Chef barked. "You'll just throw my food again!"

The rest of the contestants in the line grumbled and went to sit down next to their food-splattered teammates.

 **...Confessionals…**

"On one hand," Ashton debated, "No awful Chef food I'm forced to eat. On the other hand no food, period."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

Chris walked into the cafeteria. "Hello, contestants! I've seen you guys have been busy," He said eyeing the damage from the fight. "That'll make for great TV, you know."

The contestants murmured in response.

"Mmhh," Chris nodded. "I'll pretend I understood that."

"Unintelligible murmuring aside, I have a challenge to present!"

A chorus of complaints rang out from the lunch room ranging from "But we didn't get breakfast!" and "This early?"

"Yes, yes and yes," Chris answered. "But I'll let you guys wash up first. Now the challenge!"

Chris cleared his throat, "Teams will roam around the island trying to find carved heads of yours truly which will each be dyed in your team colors. For the Capillaries' blue, and the Arteries' red. Each team has twelve Chrises to find."

Ricky raised his hand, "But what if we find another team's statue?"

"Excellent question! The answer is I don't care. You can pitch it the lake if you want. Your choice."

"Now wash up and meet at the cafeteria entrance in 15 minutes," Chris commanded.

The contestants left the cafeteria, most of them picking at their crusty clothes.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I'm really glad that I didn't get hit," Annabelle said, referring to the food fight. "I only just got these clothes back washed."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I was right!" Tiana exclaimed. "This is a fun challenge. I love scavenger hunts!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"Chris's ego shows his head once again," Graham announced. "Now we're hunting for his over glorified bobble heads."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Ooh, a scavenger hunt!" Settler exclaimed. "

 **…** **.Break…**

"A scavenger hunt!" Atlas cheered. "I was awesome at these back home."

 **…** **.Break…**

"This challenge seems more team-oriented," Maggie observed. "I hope that's a good thing."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Why is everyone calling this a scavenger hunt?" Chris complained. "I never said it was!"

"Well, then what were you going to call it?" Chef asked from outside the confessional.

"Uh… a Chris hunt. Yeah, a Chris hunt." The host claimed.

"I sure would love to participate in a Chris hunt," Chef said, not referring to the scavenger hunt.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**


	9. Challenge 2, Part 2: Team Pairs

_**Author's Note: Part 2! And here I go, already showing you why it's rated T.**_

* * *

Chris stood in the messy cafeteria while Chef cleaned up in the background.

"Last time on Total Drama Heart Island," The host announced. "There was a perfectly chaotic food fight!"

"With my food," Chef murmured.

Chris glared at him and continued. "Nathan tried to befriend the asocial Graham, while Cashmere proved to be the only one who can eat any of Chef's food."

"They're all wimps, that's why," Chef muttered.

Chris sent him a harsher glare and said, "The teams found out they had to wander around the island, finding statues of me!"

Chef muttered something incoherent, which was just as well considering the glare Chris sent him.

"Find out what happens next on Total Drama Heart Island!" Chris smiled and then turned around towards Chef. "Chef, can you not act professional in front of an audience? And why were you in my shot anyway?"

Chris started ranting again, brushing off any reply Chef might have had. "See, Chef, this is why I'm host and you're not. Because I have charisma, charm and can act professional."

"Well, pretty boy," Chef replied. "You just had your little breakdown on camera."

Turning around, Chris noticed that the red light was still blinking. "Augh! You were still filming! God, can't you do anything right intern?"

"Sorry!" called an awkward, male voice off camera as the camera started shaking while the intern fumbled with it.

"Now you just spoke on camera!" Chris sighed, "We'll just edit it out later."

* * *

Lynn wandered around the camp, trying to find the bathrooms Chris neglected to show them on the tour. Despite not getting hit during the food fight, she decided to at least wash her face before she began the challenge.

She eventually stumbled upon a large, gray blocky structure between the two lodges. After initially wondering how she missed that, Lynn walked up to the two, matching doors that had no markings on which is for which.

Lynn carefully examined both doors, trying to find any identification, but no luck.

"How could something like this happen?" Lynn wondered out-loud.

* * *

Izzy giggled as she held the two bathroom door signs, smashing them together in a way to resemble kissing.

"Mwah, mwah," She giggled. "You may now kiss the bride!"

Izzy then started humming the wedding march.

"Uh, Izzy?" Owen said, sitting beside her in the shade of Heart Island's forest. "I don't think we're supposed to be here."

"Well, _duh_!" Izzy exclaimed. "What's the fun of doing something if you're allowed to? Besides this will teach those crazy producers for not picking Izzy for _'_ _Total Drama All Stars'_. Izzy definitely has all-star power!"

"I know," Owen fidgeted. "But I think Noah might be mad if he found out we were here."

"Why do you say that, my big, cuddly donut?"

"Because he already texted me saying that if he found out we were here he would stop being friends with us!"

"Aww, Noah doesn't mean that," Izzy cooed. "Besides Izzy knows how to cover her tracks!"

"See that camera over there?" Izzy pointed to a camera situated in the tree tops. "Watch this!"

Izzy bounded up the tree trunk and took hold of the camera before chomping on it and spewing the lens out.

"Hmm," Izzy said as she chewed thoughtfully. "Tastes like metal and my Grandmother's vitamin pills everybody says I should stop eating!"

She hopped down and landed on the mossy forest floor with a thud. She then turns around and glares at the current camera filming this.

"Oh, and intern?" She said coolly. "I definitely would hurt you."

The camera angles shift to the forest floor and starts bumping up and down in turn with the intern's steps as Izzy cackles in the background.

* * *

"Well," Lynn said. "I guess I'll just have to guess."

She shrugs and chooses the door on the left, covering her eyes as she opens the door. A puff of steam floats through the bathroom door before it swings shut, leaving Lynn to her decision.

"Uh, hello?" Lynn calls and her voice echoes throughout the bathroom. "Anybody there?"

"Please don't be naked or a boy," Lynn mutters beneath her breath. Unfortunately Lynn's prayers are left unanswered.

Nathan walks out of the shower, lower body snugly wrapped up in a towel. His black hair is matted against his neck and Lynn can't help but stare at the slight abs on his stomach.

"Oh, hey Lynn!" Nathan greeted, oblivious to Lynn's bright red blush. "Are you lost, or something? Because I'm pretty sure this is the boy's bathroom."

Lynn stutters in response, "R-Right! Got lost! Big island! Got to go!" Before dashing out the door.

 **...Confessionals…**

Lynn is sitting cross-legged, murmuring to herself, "Calm down, calm down, he's just a boy. A hot boy who I happened to see half-naked, but, no need to fuss."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I just realized there were no signs on those doors," Nathan said, fully-clothed. "Somebody should get on that."

 **…** **.Break…**

"I saw the bathroom doors and there were no signs on them!" Tiana blabbered. "So I made these!" She said, shoving two portraits of two stylized silhouettes of a boy and girl into the camera. "Good, right? Wait, why am I telling this to a camera?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

The contestants were standing at the cafeteria entrance, waiting to find out what to do next when Chris waltzed up in front of them.

"Okay, contestants! You have five minutes to discuss your strategy. Now strategize!"

The groups immediately huddled together.

* * *

"So, maybe we should spit up? To cover more ground?" Ricky suggested.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Jayce said authoritatively. "Since we have eight people, we should split into groups of two. Any suggestions?"

"Ashton and I can be a pair," Ricky said.

"I can pair up with Tiana," Annabelle offered.

"Aww, thanks!" Tiana gushed.

"No problem, you're nice," Annabelle says.

Maggie glanced around at the team members left, and tugged on Launa's sleeve. "Do you mind if we pair up?"

"Not at all!"

"Guess you're with me," Cashmere said, sidling up to Jayce.

"Yeah, guess so."

Seeing Cashmere hang off of Jayce like that, Launa flushed an angry red.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Jeez," Launa mutters. "I felt like such a spaz since I came on this show. Though I guess it make me more in tune with my emotions."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

* * *

"So, I was thinking we could split up into pairs." Atlas said. "So we can cover more ground."

Lynn nodded in agreement. "It makes sense. I can pair up with Settler."

"Graham and I can pair up," Jason said, eyeing Graham.

 **...Confessionals…**

"This will be a great challenge to talk strategy," Jason said. "None of our teammates can overhear what we're planning. We'll rely it to Settler later.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"So that leaves Hans, Nathan and me," Atlas summarized. "We'll just be one big group."

"Cool!" Nathan cheered.

* * *

"Time's up!" Chris said. "I assume you guys paired off into groups of two, or two groups of two and a group of three in the Arteries' case."

The contestants nodded, some exchanging a few surprised glances that the other team had thought of the same idea as them.

"Well, in that case, it's time to receive your new group assignments!" Chris exclaimed.

The cast groaned and some of them muttered "Why?"

"You see," Chris explained. "If you picked the pairs yourself, everybody would get along and there would be no source of conflict. But I assure you that our team of producers, and me, picked pairs that would cause fighting and agony, all for the audience's viewing pleasure."

"If this was your plan all along, then why did you let us pick partners?" Graham questioned.

"What can I say? I like disappointment with my morning coffee."

"So pair assignments," Chris said. "Jayce, you're probably mad at Ashton for writing a poem, that while did win, let the team down, so what could be better than leaving you and him in a forest alone for hours? Nothing! So you two will be paired up."

Ashton glanced warily at Jayce, who had no readable expression on his face.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Why did Chris say that?" Ashton asked nervously. "Does he think Jayce will hurt me?"

 **…** **.Break…**

"That guy is real subtle," Jayce said sarcastically, referring to Chris. "I'd rather not have the contestants frightened of me, it makes my plan a whole lot harder."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Launa you're really outgoing and Annabelle, you're really shy. So you two will be partners. Maggie and Tiana? Vice-versa. So have fun together."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Tiana seems nice," Maggie said. "So the changes doesn't make me uncomfortable or anything."

 **…** **.Break…**

"Launa looks pretty nice," Annabelle remarked. "And she's sporty, so I guess that might help?'

 **…** **.Break…**

"I heard Maggie's a dancer," Tiana chattered. "So we can talk about the arts and stuff!"

 **…** **.Break…**

"This seems like a great way to meet new people," Launa said. "And I can always work with Maggie some other time, so I don't mind. What did Chris think I was gonna be like, mad?"

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Ricky, Cashmere," Chris said. "You guys are both egotistical, so have fun trying to one-up each other!"

 **...Confessionals…**

Ricky just sighs, head held in his hands.

 **…** **.Break…**

"Why does Chris think I'm egotistical?" Cashmere asked. "It's not like I did anything too bad, so far."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Arteries," Chris proclaimed, turning to the team. "Your turn now!"

"Settler, you're a little obsessed with Jason, so it makes perfect sense that you'll be paired up with him this challenge."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Obsessed?" Jason says with wide eyes.

 **…** **.Break…**

"And when Chris said 'obsessed' his eyes practically tripled in size!" Settle narrated. "Still, that isn't a good thing. I don't want him to be avoiding me because he thinks I'm gonna make a doll of him like that Kelsey girl."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Lynn, Nathan. You're a boy," He said pointing to Nathan. "And she's a girl," He then pointed to Lynn. "Who happened to have an embarrassing moment this morning. So, say hello partners!"

"Hello!" Nathan greeted again while Lynn looked mortified.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Ah, the people's common enemy," Jayce said. "The opposite sex! Because apparently they can't keep their hormones under control."

 **…** **.Break…**

'I don't even want to know what happened between those two," Graham said.

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Nathan, you're not embarrassed or anything?" Chris asked.

"Why, we're buddies!"

 **...Confessionals…**

Lynn just sat there, before taking a few deep breaths and saying, "I'm fine."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"Kay," Chris said, a little weirded out. "Atlas, Hans and Graham you're just leftover, so group of people nobody wants!"

"Technically, you're the one that made the pairs, so nobody really didn't want us-" Hans said.

"Group!" Chris insinuated again.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Nice to know Chris can't make a normal group without giving it a demeaning nickname," Graham remarked.

 **…** **.Break…**

"It's gonna be a little weird working with Graham after trying to vote him off," Hans admitted. "But I'm sure it'll be fine!"

 **…** **.Break…**

Atlas shrugs, "It's kind of the original group, so as long as Graham isn't whiny, we'll be fine."

 **…** **.End Confessionals…**

"So kiddies, go out and find my statues!' Chris exclaimed and the teams meandered out.

"Ugh, so anti-climactic," Chris muttered about their exit.

* * *

Chris is standing on the dock, delivering his end-of-the-episode speech. "And the teams have set off on their journey. Who will succeed and who will lose? Will Jayce kill Ashton? And what did Nathan mean by 'buddies'? And will the pairs stir up drama? We hope so! Find out what happens next on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: I know this chapter is kinda short and a little out of pattern, having three parts for a challenge, but I really felt I should end it here, and preserve the suspense for the next update. And Izzy and Owen made a cameo! Don't expect this to be regular, but old cast making appearances might happen a few more times in the story's run. Until the next update (which will hopefully be soon)!_**


	10. Challenge 2, Part 3: The Chris Hunt

**_Author's Note: Sorry, I took so long! I'm glad to say I have posted the last part of Challenge 2! Yay! Thanks for all the great reviews!_**

* * *

"Welcome back to Total Drama Heart Island!" Chris announced. "Last time we switched up the team's pairings for our Chris hunt, where contestants will hunt for statues of moi, by pairing them up with who they have the most problems with." Chris gave a toothed grin to the audience. "Who will succeed and who will lose? Find out on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"

* * *

Jayce and Ashton were wondering around the forest, searching for statues. Ashton checked in the trees, whilst giving Jayce wary looks, and Jayce pondered their next action.

"I don't see any statues here," Ashton remarked, hopping down from the root he was standing on. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Well," Jayce said, pulling out a rolled up map from his back pocket. "I'd say Chris probably put one on the top of this cliff," He pointed to a marking of a mountain on the map. "Being the most dangerous and all."

"Ah," Ashton agreed. "Where did you get the map?"

"Oh, nowhere special." Jayce whistled and started walking towards the cliff while Ashton trailed behind.

* * *

Chef burst into Chris's trailer, looking haggled.

"Chef, where have you been?" Chris complained wearing a couple towels. "You were almost late for our couple's massages."

"Ah, sorry Chris." Chef said, laying down on the beds the masseurs set up, and a young black-haired girl started rubbing his shoulders. "It's just I couldn't find- a little to the left, ah, there we go – my darned map."

"Always losing stuff Chef," Chris commented.

"It wasn't my fault! I bet one of your darn contestants took it."

Chris shrugs, "Whatever. Gives one of them an edge."

* * *

Ricky and Cashmere had stumbled upon a small pond during their search of the area.

While Ricky cooed over the family of ducks that lived there, Cashmere busied herself by staring into the pond, tidying up her hair. She then noticed a faint silhouette of a figure and pulled it out, a Capillaries' Chris statue.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I wasn't being vain!" Cashmere said defensively. "Just…observant."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Lynn and Nathan were awkwardly, for Lynn, wandering in a heavily wooded part of the forest.

Nathan hummed the latest metal tune, occasionally making the guttural sounds that went along with some while Lynn kept time by tapping her fingers on her thighs.

"Nathan, are we even looking?" She asked when she noticed neither of them were really searching, just wandering around the forest.

"Oh," Nathan plunged his hand into a nearby by bush and pulled out a statue. "Found one!"

* * *

Tiana and Maggie wandered in an open plain, searching for one of their statues.

"There it is!" Tiana gasped, running to a statue sitting in the middle of the field. "We found one-oh."

The "statue" had flopped over by the vibrations Tiana's footsteps created, turning out to be a cardboard cutout.

 **...Confessionals…**

"What's the fun if they're _all_ real?' Chris asked rhetorically.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Ashton and Jayce found the cliff, which wasn't very hard considering it was a cliff.

Ashton looked around the area, spying no blue Chris statue. "Well, I guess it isn't here. Maybe we could check the forest…"

"Hold on," Jayce interrupted, stalking to the edge of the cliff and peering over. "Well, well, well. Look at what's here." He motioned for Ashton to walk over.

Ashton apprehensively walked to the edge of the cliff and looked over to see a Chris statue sitting precariously on one of the ridges. "Boy, that's…steep."

"Mhmm," Jayce nodded. "Well, go get it."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I mean after you failed us in the poetry competition, you should be the one to get it."

Ashton fidgeted. "But we won."

"Yes, but you said you wouldn't disappoint me, and you did."

"Fine," Ashton succumbed, nervously making his way down the cliff face.

 **...Confessionals…**

"The trick to manipulating people is to latch onto any little weakness," Jayce advised. "And make them feel so guilty about it, they would do anything to make up for it."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Ashton made his way down the edge of the cliff, and slipped, letting out a gasp while Jayce had stifle a chuckle.

 **...Confessionals…**

"People getting hurt is not hilarious," Jayce said seriously. "Not at all." Before letting out a laugh. "I crack myself up sometimes."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Ashton managed to recover, and barely hanging onto the cliff, hoisted himself up to the edge the statue was on.

Grabbing it, he asked, "How do I climb up with the statue?"

"You don't," Jayce replied. "Here, just toss it up."

Ashton threw the statue up and Jayce caught it with ease. Ashton then started making his way up an eventually managing to make it up, collapsing on the green grass.

"Now," Jayce said, admiring the statue's detail. "That wasn't so hard."

 **...Confessionals…**

"This statue is really intricate," Jayce commented. "They even have his wrinkles down, but with an ego like Chris's, I wouldn't imagine any less."

 **….Break…**

"I do not have wrinkles," Chris affirms.

"Chris!" Chef calls from outside of the booth. "Your maximum power wrinkle free cream has arrived."

"Chef!" Chris whines. "Shut up!"

"No need to get your girdle in a twist."

 **….Break…**

"I'm dead inside." Ashton panted.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Hans, Graham and Atlas had wandered into another of the forest's plains and Atlas had announced, "Now let's split up!"

"Why?" Hans asked.

"Because it's easier to cover ground that way." Atlas answered. "Graham, search near those thorny bushes,"

"Great," Graham muttered under his breath, but he didn't object as he walked towards the area Atlas directed him to.

"Hans, maybe one of the statues is hidden in those hollow oaks, so check over there."

Hans dutifully nodded and went over to the oaks.

"And I'll go over to those rocks," Atlas said to himself, before leaving.

* * *

Hans didn't really need to stretch to reach the top of the oak tree, but he was shocked that instead of rough wood, he felt a soft hand. Momentarily surprised, he recoiled and knocked over one of the Chris statues out of where it was placed.

"Found one!" He said to himself, and was about to call out to his teammates before realizing it was blue, not the Arteries' red. "Wait, this isn't ours," He muttered.

He then noticed a blonde head poking out from behind the trees. He recognized who it was before he could even see the rest of their face. "Annabelle."

"Hans?" The daydreamer said, walking around to meet him. "Hi."

"Hi," He found himself blushing. "Um, how are you?" He said at a loss for words.

"Fine," She said nervously, biting at her lip. "I found this." She pulled out a red Chris statue.

"Wait, did you find it there," Hans asked, pointing to the tree where he had found his.

Annabelle nodded.

"Weird, that's where I found mine."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I got tired of thinking of new places to put them," Chris shrugged.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Annabelle chuckled. "Strange, we managed to find each other and the statues."

"Yeah," Hans blushed again. "Speaking of which, considering we have the other team's statues, want to trade?"

"Sure." Annabelle and Hans took each other's statues, their fingers brushing against each other's during the switch, causing them both to blush.

Their perpetual blushing and staring was interrupted by Launa's distressed cries "Annabelle! Where are you? Are you hurt?" and Graham's almost bored ones "Hans. Where. Are. You." and Atlas's snips "Could you at least yell louder?"

"Guess I'd better go," Annabelle said before Hans grabbed her arm.

"Wait, can we meet again? Maybe near the outside of the bathrooms?" He asked nervously.

"Sure, but I need to go right now. Bye,"

"Oh, you're okay!" Launa cried, practically throwing herself on Annabelle. "And you found one of the statues!"

"With a little help," Annabelle admitted.

"Hmm?"

"Did you find anything Hans?" Atlas asked. "Because I managed to find one wedged between the rocks." He held up a dirty Chris statue. "It's a little worn, but it counts."

"I managed to find one," Hans smiled before muttering under his breath, "With a little help."

"What did you just say?"

"Huh?"

* * *

Tiana and Maggie had gone to the lake front to search for statues, and weren't doing so well.

"Oh, that poor bird!" Maggie exclaimed, pointing to seagull with a soda bottle ring wrapped around its neck.

"Oh," Tiana said, seeing the bird. "Maybe we should…"

In that moment, a shark jumped out of the waters and swallowed the bird whole.

"Get out of here," Tiana finished and dragged Maggie behind her as they ran.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I didn't know lakes could have sharks," Maggie says, staring at the camera traumatized.

 **….Break…**

"That was the most horrific thing I ever saw," Tiana shivered.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Nathan had spotted another one of the Arteries' groups through the trees. "Jason! Settler! Over here!"

"Are we allowed to do that?" Lynn asked as Jason and Settler made their way towards them.

"Why not? Chris never said we couldn't."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I hate it when contestants find loopholes," Chris grumbled.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Hey," Jason greeted. "Nice to see something other than rocks here."

Lynn smiled graciously. "Did you guys find anything yet?"

Settler pouted. "No. You?"

"Yeah!" Nathan pulled the statue out from his guitar case, which he had brought without the guitar for a carrying case.

"Luckies," Settler pouted again. "We haven't been able to find anything."

"Well, now we have," Jason said vaguely.

"Huh?"

"Look, up there!" Jason pointed to the tress.

The group looked up at the trees, and sure enough, a red Chris statue was situated on one of the tallest tree's branches. Birds and squirrels hopped on and off the tree, and subsequently glared at the group, as if guessing they were planning to invade their territory.

"Up there?" Settler asked in disbelief.

"It does seem kind of… dangerous," Lynn commented. "But, Chris wouldn't put a statue there if we would get hurt, right?"

 **...Confessionals…**

Chris laughed, tears in his eyes. "These new contestants always crack me up."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Settler asked.

"We could climb!" Nathan suggested.

"Unharnessed? That doesn't seem very safe…" Lynn trailed off.

Settler and Jason voiced their worries about the safety factor of the idea while Nathan's left eye twitched.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I don't take well to criticism," Nathan stated.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"We could," Nathan said, somewhat frustrated. "Find a harness."

"But where?" Lynn asked.

"A tool shed? Chris's trailer?"

"Those do seem like good possibilities," Lynn pondered.

"We could split up and check them out separately," Jason suggested.

"I'll take Settler!" Lynn blurted out, grabbing the former's arm.

"Huh? But aren't we partners?" Nathan said, dismayed.

"Yes, but girls talk, and junk," Lynn said before dragging Settler off towards the shiny, giant trailer that none of the contestants had missed on their tour.

"Girl talk?" Nathan said, tilting his head towards Jason.

* * *

"Why were you acting so weird back there?" Settler asked, still being dragged.

"Weird?" Lynn said. "No, just awkward."

"Why?"

"I don't really want to talk about it." Lynn evaded.

"Ok,"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Have you ever had that feeling were you want to talk about something, but also don't want to talk about it?" Lynn said. "That's how I'm feeling."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"We're here," Lynn pushed Settler in front of Chris's gleaming white trailer.

"Uh, how are we going to get inside?" Settler asked, trying to discreetly peer through the window. "I mean, I guess they could have something to help us in there, but they're also in there too."

"They're?"

"Chris and Chef," Settler answered. "And two Swedish massage people."

"…"

 **...Confessionals…**

Lynn slapped her face with her hand. "…I didn't think of that possibility."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Lynn partially shrugged, before stopping. "Distract? Break in like spies? I kind of didn't really think this through." She sheepishly admitted.

Settler eyes sparkled as she focused on one piece of information Lynn had given her. "'Break in like spies?' We could do a spy movie montage!"

Lynn looked at Settler, perplexed, which prompted Settler to explain further, "You know, that part in movies where the spies plan and infiltrate a building, we could do that!" Settler starts motioning around with her hands. "We descend from that tree branch on a rope and land on the roof, then we take off a part of the roof to access the trailer, and we could get Nathan to play spy music during it…"

Lynn spoke up, "You do know that would take a climbing harness and equipment, which we don't have."

"…O-kay, Plan B!"

* * *

Nathan and Jason had found the shed and were digging through with hopes to find any sort of climbing equipment or material to make some.

"Ok, what kind of challenges did they do before this show?" Jason asked, holding up a bike handle bar and headset with a pink pony head attached to it. "Because I'd really like to know."

"Ooh, I think I remember this," Nathan said, pulling out a sticker of a giant eye from a bin. "It's pretty cool."

Nathan stuck the trinket on his guitar case before saying, "Chris must be really obsessed with this show to keep everything from it's past."

 **...Confessionals…**

Chris scoffs, "Am not. Why would I ever miss those brats or even cherish my time with them?"

"Because they made you loads of money and deep down you loved them beyond torturing them because you got to see their lives play out like you wished your own did?" Chef remarked from outside the confessional booth.

"Shut up, Chef! Not true!" Chris whined, before taking out a picture of the original cast out and whispering, "I miss those kids."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Jason pulled out a horde of rubber bats, marked "Might be used for 'Phobia Multiple'." from a cardboard box full of moldy green jelly. "When was the last time they cleaned this out?"

"Oh, hey! Vampire bats!" Nathan laughed. "Just like you!"

Jason looked at him perplexedly which caused Nathan to further explain. "Because Settler thinks you're a vampire. You know, cause you're… you!" Nathan exclaimed, for lack of a better word.

"…."

"Hey, look!" Nathan exclaimed. "The equipment!" He pulled out a couple of harnesses and rigs from another moldy cardboard box. "Now we can get the statue! Let's go grab the girls!"

Nathan whistled and walked out of the room while Jason followed.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I said something wrong, didn't I?" Nathan said in an afterthought.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Nathan and Jason snuck up around Chris's trailer and found Settler and Lynn sitting clueless on the ground next to the trailer, trying to think of their own plan.

Nathan tapped Lynn's shoulder and she turned around to face him, alarmed.

"Oh, it's you guys," She said, visibly relieved.

"We found the equipment!" Nathan exclaimed, dangling the equipment in his hand.

"Cool," Lynn said, still a bit startled.

"All right!" Settler said, before getting up. "Now to get the statue!"

She marched through the forest and led the group to where the statue was.

"Now does anybody know how to set up climbing equipment?" Lynn asked. She looked eagerly around the group and when all of them shook their head as an answer, her face fell. "Darn it."

* * *

"Does anybody in these woods know how to rig a harness?" Nathan yells, wandering around the forest by himself. The group had decided to split up, with Settler and Lynn going back to the shed to see if there were instructions, and Jason and Nathan going their separate ways to find any Arteries that might help.

Suddenly, Atlas pops out of a thick bush, startling Nathan. "I know how to rig a harness!"

"Cool!" Nathan said, recovering from his previous fright. "We need to do some climbing to grab a statue, you mind helping?"

"Not at all," Atlas said, getting up and brushing off his shorts. "I was just searching for a statue myself." He frowned at the bush. "It was a dead end."

"Oh," Nathan remarked. "Well, now all of us can find one together!"

"All of us?" Atlas echoed.

"Yeah, me, Lynn, Jason, Settler and now you!" Nathan exclaimed.

Graham popped out from behind a tree nearby with leaves in his hair. "That seems like a gross misuse of the number of teammates we have."

"Wow!" Nathan said. "Are you guys like ninjas, or something?"

Atlas looked around. "Well, let's get going." He looked at Graham. "Where's Hans?"

Graham shrugged. "I think he was checking the trees over there again."

Hans then bursts onto the scene, haggled with acorn shells in his hair. "Squirrels…are…very…territorial," He panted.

* * *

Atlas had finally managed to rig the harnesses on Settler and Lynn, who they had chosen to climb, with Atlas and Nathan holding them up.

"Okay," Atlas said. "As long as Nathan and I hold up these ropes, you'll be fine, even if you fall , you'll be fine, because the rope will catch you."

"Okay," Lynn said nervously.

"Let's get that statue!" Settler said excitedly and she grabbed a tree branch and raised herself up, with Lynn following.

* * *

Settler had made her way up to about midway up between the ground and the statue. She started to feel around for any place holders as the branches got thinner.

"There we go," She grunted as she stuffed her hand in a hole in the tree. "Okay- Ow!" She shrieked as a set of razor sharp teeth bit down on her hand. She pulled her hand out and glared at the bite, which was now swelling.

"Are you okay?" Lynn called.

"Fine," Settler called back before glaring at the hole. "Stupid animals."

She continued on her way before she felt something drop on her forehead.

"Hey!" Settler looked up to see a very angry squirrel.

The squirrel looked down at her and held up another acorn before chattering and causing half a dozen more squirrels to come at its call.

"Oh no," Settler said as the squirrels released dozens of acorns into the air.

"Ahh!" Settler screamed as she lost her grip.

"Noo-wait," Settler said as she looked down. "I'm okay!"

The rig had worked its charm and Settler was now practically floating on air. "Woo, this is actually kind of fun!"

* * *

The first squirrel smacked it's face as it looked down at the okay Settler. Another squirrel said something to it hopefully before it got it's acorn slapped out of it's hands.

* * *

"Squirrels are very territorial," Hans repeated looking up at the scene.

"Fine! I'm sorry for not believing you about the squirrels." Graham said.

"Mhmm."

"Settler!" Lynn called. "What happened?"

"Just a bit of a fall," Settler called back, latching onto a tree branch before she floated to the ground any further. "I'm fine."

"Okay," Lynn said before she continued to climb.

* * *

 _5 minutes of exhausting climbing later…_

"I've got it!" Settler called, grabbing the statue from its resting place. She started to bounce down to the ground with Lynn.

* * *

 _On the ground…_

* * *

The boys congratulated the girls on finally getting the statues before the group split up into the original pairs, or trio in Graham, Hans and Nathan's case, and went to search for more statues.

* * *

Cashmere and Ricky had walked into Heart Island's resident swamp, where a blue Chris statue lay in the center, on a lily pad. The swamp waters were gurgling threateningly, while mosquitos buzzed about.

Ricky scratched his head. "There's a swamp here?"

He then reevaluated the situation. "Okay, so maybe we can get a ladder and crawl across the waters to get the statue…? Cashmere, what do you think?" He then did a double take. "Cashmere, what are you doing?"

Cashmere had jumped into the murky waters, splashing the area around her and causing a few, now disgruntled, animals to leave.

Cashmere responded, "What do ya' think I'm doing? I'm gettin' the statue."

"But," Ricky gaped. "The mud…"

"Yeah, it's a cesspool, alright," Cashmere grunted. "But it's not goin' to stand in the way of our victory."

She slogged to the center and snatched the statue form where it sat. She sauntered to Ricky, as well as she could with the muck hanging on her and presented it to him.

"Two statues for us!" Cashmere eyed Ricky. "You better start pulling your weight teammate." She punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Ricky cradled his arm. "What was that for?"

"It was a friendly punch, you know friends," She pulled up her arm again and Ricky flinched, "Please, don't."

Cashmere sighed.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I got a bit caught up in the moment there," Cashmere apologized. "Sorry, Ricky!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Maggie and Tiana wandered around the woods, before Tiana gave up and sat on the ground.

"It's no use!" She groaned as Maggie watched curiously. "We've been wondering around for hours and we've found nothing!"

"Aw, come on, Tiana," Maggie said as she sat down next to Tiana. "I'm sure we can find something before time runs out."

"This is your third time saying that."

"Well…" Maggie said weakly. "It's still true. You know, third time's the charm?"

"Third time is the charm," Tiana rationalized with herself. She stood up and smiled. "I guess a few more hours of searching can't hurt!"

Maggie gave a small, weak cheer and the two walked side by until they stumbled upon a particularly leafy area of woods.

"I wonder why there are so many leaves here," Tiana said as she glanced at the trees, who still had a good amount of leaves on them for all the leaves on the floor.

 **SNAP!**

"It's very hard to stay optimistic in these situations, isn't it Maggie?"

"Mhmm,"

"I'll try!"

* * *

Atlas, Graham and Hans had broken off into individual searches again, and Graham was searching by the rocks on the beach.

Graham didn't have a luck until a red Arteries' statue washed up nest to where he was searching. He picked it up before gagging, "Is this covered in shark guts?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"I had to wash my hands so many times just to get rid of the _stench_ ," Graham shivered.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Settler and Jason had taken a rest on one of the groups of rocks scattered throughout the forest, after searching for more statues in vain.

"Vampire, huh?" Jason asked.

Settler found herself in a rare moment of silence as she stared at the ground.

 **...Confessionals…**

"He knows," Settler said in a haunted voice. "How does he know?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Launa and Annabelle were walking around in the forest, until they came upon something startling.

"Maggie, Tiana! What happened to you?" Launa gasped as she viewed the sight.

Somehow Maggie and Tiana had gotten their selves stuck in a net, which had them dangling from a tree.

Tiana shrugged. "I have no idea how this happened."

"Please help!" Maggie begged.

Tiana nodded. "Yes, please!"

"Of course! We just need to find something to cut you guys down." Launa turned to Annabelle. "Ideas?"

"I saw a tool shed on the way here. Maybe…" Annabelle hypothesized.

"Somethings in there that we could use to free them!" Launa finished. "Genius, Annabelle! Let's get there fast!"

"Yes, please do," Maggie interrupted.

While Annabelle and Launa ran to the tool shed, Tiana turned to Maggie. "I still don't know why the net was here in the first place."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Stupid kids! Messing up my traps," Chef grumbled. "Now how am I supposed to get dinner?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

Launa and Annabelle had managed to get some yard clippers from the shed. They made their way back to Tiana and Maggie.

"And…one last snip," Launa stated as she readied the scissors for one last time. "Are you guys ready?"

Tiana and Maggie nodded as they braced for the fall to the ground.

Launa closed the scissors, finally letting the net reach the ground. As the net landed, a blue Capillary statues fell down from the tree where the trap had been strung.

Tiana cheered. "Yay! We're free! And we finally have a statue!"

Launa slowly climbed down from the tree. "Well, at least it wasn't too bad."

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, um, can you cut us out of the net?"

"Oh, sure!"

* * *

 _A long time of statue finding later…_

* * *

The speakers spread throughout the island crackled to life. "Attention contestants! One of the teams have found all of their statues. Report to the front of the mess hall to find out which team will vote off one of their one!"

Chris stood in front of the campers while interns went around and collected the statues. "Well, I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of injury considering where we put those things, but job done well. But one team did better. And that team was…"

Chris held out a long pause before announcing, "The Capillaries!"

The Arteries groaned while the Capillaries cheered but Chris shushed them all. "But that's not all!"

"It isn't?" Tiana asked, allowing Chris to jump right with his memorized speech, "It isn't! The lovely producers here at Total Drama Heart Island thought a prize was in order for the winning team and you guys get to open one of these mysterious treasure chests," He paused for Chef to wheel out five treasure chests on a cart in front of the campers. "All which can be opened by this key," He said, whipping the key out from his pocket.

"Inside of each is either a prize or something to help you guys in the game." Chris glanced around before shoving the key in Launa's hand. "Now Lana-"

"Launa," Launa corrected.

"Right, still memorizing faces, since you were the closest in my field of vision you get to open the chest for your team!"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Wow," Graham remarked. "He doesn't even try to sugar coat it, does he?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

Launa went up to the chests before picking the one furthest to the left with her team's approval. She stuck the key in the lock and opened the chest. She plucked a scroll from the bottom of the chest and read, _"_ 'You opened the lucky chest! Now you all get to stay! Arr!' _"_

"'Arr'? But this isn't a pirate challenge," Tiana said, confused.

Launa shrugged. "That's what is said on the paper."

Chris groaned. "I was hoping you guys wouldn't open that chest! I told the producers it shouldn't have been an option but they said it would make the stakes 'higher'."

He started to stalk to his trailer before Tiana questioned, "Is that it?"

"Yes, you all get to stay," Chris rolled his eyes. "Now go tell the camera what you learned and leave me alone!" He left the contestants alone with Chef who was slowly and strenuously starting to load up the chests.

Chef sighed and looked at the cast. "Six seasons of this can really stress a man out."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I learned that leafy areas are not safe areas," Tiana recited.

 **….Break…**

"I learned Chris is easy to tick off," Jayce said. "And that Ashton is easy to manipulate."

 **….Break…**

"I learned that sometimes a bit of empathy goes far longer than a lot of apathy," Graham stated. "Basically, be nicer or everyone will hate you."

 **….Break…**

"I learned that unexpected places may hold an Annabelle," Hans blushed.

 **….Break…**

"I learned that this island is far more dangerous than I thought it was," Ashton shivered.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"Lynn, Lynn, Lynn!" Settler yelled, bursting into the Arteries girls' room. Her yelling caused Lynn to look up from playing her guitar, the activity she had chosen to indulge before dinner.

"Yeah?" Lynn said, moving her guitar away to focus on the distraught Settler.

"Jason knows!" Settler said eerily. "He _knows_."

"Knows what?"

"That I kind of, sort of, thought he was a vampire!" Settler exclaimed.

 **...Confessionals…**

"It was just goofy fun!" Settler admitted. "I didn't meant to freak him out…"

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Settler," Lynn said gently. "I hate to break it to you, but pretty much everybody knows."

"They do?" Settler said, more haunted than before. " _How_?"

"Well, you said it in the athletic challenge, and the confessionals," Lynn looked a little guilty. "You're kind of… loud."

"I knew that," Settler dismissed. "But I didn't know that they heard me say that!" She collapsed on Lynn's bed. "What am I going to do?" She wailed.

"Um," Lynn stalled. "Act normal? Settler, everybody else knew and they didn't really care, so I'm sure Jason will get over it," Lynn bit her lip. "Eventually."

* * *

Nathan swung his legs on the top bunk of his bed, watching Jason stare at the wall with glassy eyes, going over the whole "Settle thinks I'm a vampire" thing. "I think I understand the consequences of my actions now."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: So another chapter of Total Drama Heart Island ends. I'm sorry that I couldn't squeeze in all the statue findings, but I hope you guys like this. And don't worry, Hans and Annabelle's meeting will be covered next chapter. I'd like to have a beta for this story, and if you're interested, can you please PM me? Until the next chapter!_**


	11. Challenge 3, Part 1: Manual Needed

_**Author's Note: Well, I think you guys doubted you would ever hear from me again, but sadly, you were wrong. Also sadly, school has continued to be school. But thank you guys for reviewing and not declaring me dead.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Total Drama belongs to its owners and creators.**_

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Heart Island," Chris began while standing on the dock. "We had our contestants wander around looking for statues of me!"

"Jayce continued to show his more manipulative side while Hans and Annabelle continue their growing romance."

"But in the end, the Sensitive Capillaries won and," Chris pouted slightly. "Nobody ended up going home."

"So who will be taking a trip on the Boat of Losers next on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!" Chris exclaimed.

* * *

 ** _Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine_**

(The camera take an aerial view of a heart-shaped island for a moment, before diving down onto ground view and zooming across the island, angering Chris because the camera knocked over his coffee)

 ** _You guys are on my mind_**

(Xochitl is drawing in her sketchbook, glaring at the camera as it zooms past)

 ** _You asked me want I wanted to be_**

(Tiana is chasing a butterfly, but she trips over a cardboard cut-out of a Chris idol, allowing the butterfly to fly away)

 ** _And now I think the answer is plain to see_**

(Cashmere is climbing up a tree, yelling at squirrel that had stolen her cowboy hat when the butterfly lands on the tip of her nose, causing her to sneeze and fall off, the squirrel laughing and scurrying away in victory)

 ** _I want to be famous_**

(Hans is nervously chatting with Annabelle, before he is pelted by acorns. The camera pans up to reveal the perpetrator is none other than cowboy hat wearing squirrel)

 ** _I want to live close to the sun_**

(Atlas is talking to a bored intern, describing a sports victory vividly)

 ** _Well, pack your bags because I already won_**

(Jayce causally walks by, throwing away a gum wrapper that reflects the sun onto Atlas' shoelaces, causing his shoelaces to set on fire)

 ** _Everything to prove nothing in my way_**

(Launa is treading water in the lake, trying to convince a fearful Maggie that nothing dangerous is in the water while Atlas jumps in, in the background. The resulting ripples cause a shark to surface, and both girls run away)

 ** _I'll get there one day_**

(Chef, staring at the scene out a window in the mess hall, shakes his head in dismay)

 ** _Cause I want to be famous_**

(Chef turns around, and continues trying to force-feed Ashton a mysterious grey slop)

 ** _Na, Na, Na-Na-Na-Na_**

 ** _Na-Na-Na, Na, Na-Na-Na-Na_**

(At the Arteries table, Jason, Graham and Ricky are playing cards. Ricky puts down his cards, revealing he won, and cheers. Graham rolls his eyes while Jason throws down his cards in anger)

 ** _I wanna to be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous_**

(Nathan and Lynn are playing on their guitars together in front of the lodges before Nathan gets too excited and smashes his guitar on the ground before looking sheepish)

 ** _I wanna to be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous_**

(The camera pans up to the sky, and day dissolves into night, the camera then panning down to the campfire)

 ** _(Whistling)_**

(Everyone's sitting at the campfire, happily munching on marshmallows while the title fades in)

* * *

Hans sighed wistfully as he sat in the mess hall the next morning, ignoring the breakfast of gummy scrambled eggs littered with crushed egg shells.

* * *

 **-Flashback-**

* * *

 _"So, this is my favorite book," Annabelle stated. She and Hans were sitting on the ground, leaning against one of the outside walls of the bathrooms. "I've read it about a million times."_

 _"I've seen this in my school library before, I've just never read it," Hans said._

 _"You really should," Annabelle encouraged. "It's got a really good immersive fantasy universe."_

 _Hans chuckled softly. "I'll check it out."_

 _"So, tell me more about what you like to do," Annabelle said. "So far we've been mostly talking about me."_

 _"I don't know, you're pretty interesting."_

 _Annabelle blushed pink. "I'm sure you're interesting, too."_

 _"Well, I like to bake. You know, brownies and cookies," Hans said. "It's not my family's favorite activity for me, however."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"I may have started a fire one time."_

 _"One time?"_

 _"Okay, five times. They shouldn't be making stuff so easily flammable these days!" Hans argued._

 _"Remind me to never let you step foot in my kitchen," Annabelle giggled._

 _Hans blushed before looking down at the watch on his wrist. "Stront! We have a challenge tomorrow!"_

 _He stood up and offered his hand to Annabelle. "We need to get to bed."_

 _Annabelle took it and stood up. "Talk to you later?"_

 _Hans blushed again and mumbled, "Yeah. Talk to you later."_

* * *

 **-End Flashback-**

* * *

Hans looked up briefly from his plate to see Annabelle send him a small wave. He blushed and sent one back.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Schattige," Hans murmured.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Jason was staring at his plate in shock, his eyes still a little wide from yesterday's revelation.

"Man, you've got to eat!" Nathan exclaimed before shoving spoonful of the scrambled eggs into Jason's mouth, causing him to cough and sputter.

"Ugh- _what is in this stuff_?" Jason downed a glass of water.

"Eggs, milk, butter, eggshells, negligence," Graham answered, pushing his food around on his plate with a fork.

"Don't do that ever again." Jason pointed his fork threateningly at Nathan.

"But it worked, didn't it?" Nathan said.

"Non-negotiable."

* * *

Settler was bemoaning her bad luck by mutely chewing on Chef's scrambled eggs, then subsequently quickly swallowing mouthfuls of orange juice.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I do not want to be known as _that freak_ forever and ever, okay?" Settler said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Lynn was trying to cheer her up, albeit badly. "Hey, it's okay, people forgive and forget, you know?"

"But not on international television," Settler grumbled.

"Who knows? It could be cut."

 **...Confessionals…**

"No way!" Chris chortled. "Humiliation sells almost as much as pain!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

Settler didn't reply.

"Just try not to think about, okay?" Lynn said.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Try not to think about it?" Settler exclaimed. "How can I not?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Tiana was artfully rearranging her food when she looked up to see a blissful Annabelle across from her.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Annabelle seems happy," Tiana observed. "I wonder why? It _can't_ be the food."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Hey, why are you so happy?" Tiana blurted out.

"Huh?" Annabelle blushed slightly. "It's a nice day out."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I'm not sure how, um, _friendships_ with the other team work," Annabelle said. "Will they be mad? Disappointed?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The other cast members were chatting when the door to the mess hall swung open and Chris entered the room with his usual panache. " _Hello_ , contestants!"

The contestants decided to ignore him.

"I have your next challenge! Have you ever heard of a little thing called…paintball?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"This is the exact opposite of camouflage," Jayce remarked, observing the blue camouflage hat Chris had given him.

 **….Break…**

"I feel so subtle." Graham stared blankly at the camera, a bright red camouflage hat on his head.

 **….Break…**

"I don't like having my hat being taken away." Cashmere patted the blue camouflage hat sourly.

 **….Break…**

"I'm not sure how much of good idea this is." Maggie awkwardly shifted the paintball gun she was holding.

 **….Break…**

"This is an awesome idea. Period," Launa said.

 **….Break…**

"I _need_ to get one of these for my art!" Tiana exclaimed, waving the paintball gun around. "Paintball paintings!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"The rules of paintball are simple," Chris stated, pacing in front of the contestants as they stood at the entrance to the forest. "One: don't get hit. Two: Make sure you hit someone else with a paintball."

"That's…it?" Hans asked.

Chris nodded.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Great. Another games with no rules." Graham rolled his eyes.

 **….Break…**

"Great! Another game with no rules!" Nathan cheered.

 **….Break…**

"If you don't have any rules in a sport, then you don't have a sport," Atlas said. "And that's bad because I rock at sports."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"You've got the entire forest as you're battlefield, so I'm expecting some creativity, people!" Chris exclaimed. "Now, you've got five minutes to find your places and _then_ you can start shooting. Those five minutes start…now!"

The two teams shrugged, before meandering into the forest.

Chris groaned, before pulling out an audio recorder. "Note. Make Chef teach a crash course in plot-appropriate exits."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I just…really didn't feel like running?" Maggie shrugged.

 **….Break…**

"There is no way I'm teaching those ungrateful kids how to exit correctly," Chef grumbled. "Let Chris do it."

 **….Break…**

"I can't do that!" Chris protested. "I'm the host! It's beneath me! Have an intern do it!"

 **….Break…**

"I'm not sure how to teach a crash course in plot-appropriate exits." Daniel shrugged, before turning to Connie, who was right next to him. "You?"

Connie shook her head.

"Hey!" yelled Chris from outside the booth. "Get out of the confessionals!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"Okay, so we need to spread out," Launa directed her teammates, who were all scattered out before her. "Any preferences?"

"Anywhere but the side closest to the lake," Maggie said.

"Same here." Tiana raised her hand.

"I'm up for anywhere," Cashmere stated.

The rest of the contestants nodded.

"Then just, um, spread out!" Launa exclaimed. "We need to cover a lot of ground. So watch your back and your front and both of your sides. The enemy could be anywhere."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Enemy?" Annabelle looked around nervously. "That's a bit of a harsh word, isn't it?"

 **….Break…**

"We need to be competitive!" Launa slammed her fist on her hand. "Just, not, you know, overly so. Ow."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Ricky tapped Ashton's shoulder, exclaiming, "Want to stick together? You know, two minds are better than one?"

Ashton nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool!" Ricky cheered, before dialing it down. "I mean, um, _cool_."

 **...Confessionals…**

Ricky face-palmed. "I'm a dork."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Maggie shuffled up to Launa after her speech. "Uh, Launa, have you played this before?"

Launa brightened. "Yeah! It's pretty fun, once you get into it."

"Do you think you can help me, just a little?" Maggie asked. "I've never played this before, and Chris wasn't exactly helpful."

Launa grinned. "Sure!"

A few seconds after the words left Launa's mouth, Jayce walked up.

"Hey, you two are going to be partners, right?" Jayce asked and the girls nodded. "Want to form a group?"

Launa nodded enthusiastically and Maggie shrugged somewhat nervously.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I still need to form relationships with my teammates, so they don't try to vote me off. And the best way to do that is to participate in activities with them," Jayce explained. "Yeah, that's why..."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Annabelle was inspecting her paintball gun experimentally before Tiana popped out beside her. "Hi!"

"Gah!" Annabelle fumbled with the paintball gun before nearly dropping it on her foot. "You scared me!"

"Sorry! So, um, roomie, have you ever used these before?" Tiana asked.

"Erm, no." Annabelle continued to poke at the paintball gun's mechanisms.

"My art teacher once had us use some of these to make a mural," Tiana said. "He was the coolest art teacher I ever had."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Sure, he got fired three weeks into the second trimester for running through the campus in nothing other than swim trunks, a shower cap and his artistic integrity, but he was still the coolest art teacher I ever had," Tiana said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Want to, like, partner up together? The more the merrier?" Tiana asked and Annabelle nodded.

* * *

Cashmere observed the other groups forming and tipped her hat forward. "I guess I'm goin' solo. But I still really hate this hat."

* * *

Atlas was lecturing his teammates, who were standing before him. "We've got to step it up this round! We've lost every challenge so far!"

 **...Confessionals…**

"And whose fault was that exactly, Mr. Wipeout?" Graham asked.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Technically, we didn't lose the building challenge," Lynn pointed out.

"Okay, except that one," Atlas grumbled. "The point is, some of us need to take it to the next level!"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Some of us?" Graham questioned.

 **….Break…**

"Not cool, dude," Nathan shook his head. "Not cool."

 **….Break…**

"I thought we did well on the building challenge!" Hans exclaimed.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"We need to win so stay focus, and remember, be tough!" Atlas finished and his teammates grumbled before grouping up.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Strange." Atlas scratched his head. "My speeches always work at home."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"Settler, want to work together?" Lynn said to her still downtrodden friend.

"Yeah," Settler agreed. "Hey, do you have any idea how to operate these things?"

"Um, point and shoot?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"I need to be there for my friend during this difficult time with her, um, what is he exactly to her?" Lynn said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"Buddies?" Nathan grabbed Graham's and Jason's shoulders and pulled them towards him.

"Sure," muttered Graham and Jason nodded.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I should be there for Jason, considering, I _may_ have caused all of this 'vampire drama'." Nathan twiddled his fingers. "But not on purpose! Plus, I'm still working on befriending Graham."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Hans watched his teammates get into groups before looking around timidly.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I think I may just go by myself," Hans said. "I mean, paintball can't be _that_ hard, right?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"I'm going solo!" Atlas announced after seeing his other teammates make groups. "I can scout out the area for you guys, make sure everybody's doing well, and, you know, help you guys!"

Graham rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Somebody needs to make sure everybody's okay." Atlas looked around before whispering, "I don't think they know how to play."

 **….Break…**

"I don't think I need to help," Hans objected. "I mean, you just need to, um, hit people, right?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

While the campers were chatting, a deafening screech of feedback rang out from the speakers around the island. "Contestants! You're five minutes are up! Now get to hunting!"


	12. Challenge 3, Part 2: Paintball Woes

_**Author's Note: So, if you haven't noticed, yesterday was the one year anniversary of this fic! Yay! I'm so proud of the work of I've put towards this fic and I hope to continue it, a lot! And I'm so proud of you guys for sticking around and reading! But anyway, here's part 2!**_

* * *

"Last time Total Drama Heart Island," Chris announced, standing on the dock like usual. Except for the fact he was wearing a green camouflage hat and wielding a paintball gun. "We announced a paintball fight!"

"The teams decided to group off with the Arteries dealing with a egotistic Atlas and the Capillaries with a manipulative Jayce. Who will win and who will lose this epic paintball war? Find out next on Total! Drama! Heart! Island!" Chris finished off by a firing a paintball at the camera, splattering its lens with a bright red.

"Mr. McLean! You just got paint on the lens!" The intern behind the camera squeaked.

"So? Replace it," Chris said tiredly. "And what did I say about talking on camera?"

* * *

After the time announcement ended, the contestants exchanged looks before scurrying off.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Finally!" Chris exclaimed. "It only took them forever to start _running_ to places!"

 **….Break…**

"I am not running everywhere," Graham stated. "He'll have to work harder to get that."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"From what I know about paintball, I feel having an aerial view of the area will be useful."

"Are you sure?" Maggie stared as Launa, who was currently explaining her point while hanging upside down from a tree branch. She, Jayce and Launa were on the edge of a clearing in the woods, which was surrounded by tall trees on all sides.

"I think Launa's 100 percent correct," Jayce said, cutting Launa off from any response she could have come up with. "Being in a high place will allow us a unique view of the other team as well as the element of surprise."

Launa sent Jayce an appreciative, but mostly love-struck, look.

"Well, okay, but how do we get up-" Maggie was cut off when Launa grabbed her hands and swung her up, landing her on the same tree branch. "…Okay."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I've played enough sports to be able to lift someone, especially if I have momentum." Launa flexed her arms, which didn't produce much, but she grinned anyway.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Jayce opted to climb a different tree, a couple down from Launa and Maggie, the old fashioned way. "Remember, stay vigil!" he called before disappearing under a cover of branches and leaves.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I know exactly who I want to go on the other team." Jayce whistled as he checked the loading on his paintball gun. "And this is the perfect opportunity to make him look like a hopeless fool. Not that most of these people need a lot of help accomplishing that."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

"AHH!" Nathan shouted, shooting paintball after paintball. "Take that! And that!"

When he finally calmed down, Graham checked the now-paint soaked bush. "Nobody was there," he announced dryly.

Nathan looked sheepish and Jason patted his shoulder. "At least you were prepared."

* * *

Cashmere stared at the swamp as she stood on the edge, her boots sinking into the muck.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I have a plan," Cashmere declared. "And it should work. Just won't be gud for the other team. Or the people who do laundry aroun' here."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Cashmere took a deep breath, before plunging into the swamp, paintball gun and all. She waded around for bit, before going to hide behind a rock.

 **...Confessionals…**

"If nobody can see me, nobody can get me," Cashmere stated. "But I can still get them."

 **….Break…**

"Rotten kids," Chef muttered. "Gettin' swamp muck in their clothes. Rotten Chris, makin' me wash clothes because none of his interns know how to do it."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Ricky and Ashton were wondering around the area straddling the lake and the forest, talking.

"So then, Dominic decided his the next step in his _brilliant_ plan was to take the fridge and-" Ashton said.

"Wait." Ricky stopped snickering for a moment to interrupt. "Do you hear that?"

The boys turned to the bushes on the edge of the forest only a few yards away from them.

"Hello?" Ricky called, cautiously bringing up his paintball gun. "Anybody there? Any Capillaries?"

There was silence for moment, before a flurry of paintballs descended on the two boys. When the slaughter ended, both Ashton and Rick were covered in paint, having not fired one shot in return.

"I think we're dead now," Ashton said, trying to wipe the paint off his shirt.

On cue, the speakers on the island crackled to life. "Contestants! If you've been shot, you're still a target. You just can't shoot in return!" The announcement cut off with a cackle.

"Great," Ashton muttered and the two boys ran off before more shots could be fired.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Who did that? I thought all the sporty people were on our team!" Ricky whined.

 **….Break…**

"I'm betting that was Atlas," Ricky theorized. "He's the only one not on our team with an athletic history."

 **….Break…**

"Did someone get shot? I hope it wasn't someone on our team!" Atlas exclaimed, confused.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Settler and Lynn were hiding behind Chris's trailer, looking out for any Capillaries.

"You know," Lynn said as Settler looked around suspiciously. "Maybe everything would be okay if you just confronted it directly. We don't even know if he's mad."

"More like horrified," Settler grumbled sourly.

"We don't know if that's true either."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I've never felt more horrified than when I found out Settler thought I was a vampire," Jason stated. "I mean, a vampire? Even here, with a cowgirl and a metal fan, people still think I look weird!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

"We don't know it it's not true either," Settler said.

"But, if you talk to him, then you can find out exactly what he thinks of you!" Lynn tried.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Settler's nice and I don't want her being down because of what people _might_ think of her," Lynn said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Okay, how about you talk to Nathan about what he thinks of you?" Settler blurted out.

Lynn was silent for a moment before muttering softly, "That's an entirely different situation."

"Except the part where it's not."

Lynn looked at her feet. "Okay, we agree to disagree."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Okay, I'll admit, that probably hurt Lynn." Settler bit her lip. "Okay, _definitely_ hurt Lynn. I didn't _want_ to hurt her, she's a great friend, it just came out." Settler paused for a couple of seconds. "And I probably should tell her all this instead of the confessionals."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Lynn, I'm-" Settler began before the a "thunk!" sounded out. Lynn raised her paintball gun and quickly fired a couple shots at the disturbance. Annabelle then stepped into the small clearing, her arms raised and a few splatters of paint on her shirt.

"Okay, okay, I surrender!" she exclaimed and Lynn lowered her gun. "Oh, thank you."

They all stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"Should I go?" Annabelle asked.

Settler and Lynn exchanged looks.

"Yeah, I'd think that'd best," Lynn said and Annabelle meandered off.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Luckily, I managed to distract them long enough for Tiana to escape unscathed," Annabelle told the camera. "But I _really_ hoped not to be shot during this." She frowned and examined her shirt. "This is- _was_ -white."

 **….Break…**

"Stupid kids, wearin' white clothes to a paintball fight," Chef muttered, rubbing Annabelle's shirt against an old washboard. "Stupid Chris, breakin' the washer by using a whole bottle of scented detergent."

 **….Break…**

"My shirts have never smelled so lavender-y," Chris remarked. "Totally worth it."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Annabelle wandered around the woods, tiredly shouting. "Tiana! Tiana! Ti-" She suddenly smack dab into someone. "Oof!"

"Hello," Hans smiled. "By all means, I should probably shoot you, but I can see you're already a casualty of war." He gestured to her ruined shirt.

Annabelle giggled before blushing.

"Besides, I don't think you get extra points for that."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Just because you don't get extra points for it doesn't means it isn't encouraged!" Chris complained.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"I hope not," Annabelle remarked jokingly.

"So, I assume you're looking for Tiana?" Hans questioned.

"Yeah, we got separated when _this_ happened," Annabelle said, once again gesturing to her shirt. "I'm not sure where she ran off to."

"I probably won't be that much help, because if I see her, I'm supposed to shoot her," Hans said.

"Yeah, probably." Annabelle paused for a moment, before shyly suggesting, "But, I heard staying in one place is the best way for a person to find you, so maybe I should stay here? I'm already out."

"And I heard staying in one place is the best way to win a paintball fight, find but not seek, so maybe I should stay here with you?" Hans suggested back, a blush spreading across his face.

"I'd think that work," Annabelle replied, blushing.

"But if I see her, I'm still obligated to shoot her."

"And I'll be obligated to jump in front of your shots."

Hans nodded. "Smart."

* * *

Cashmere was growing a bit bored with staying motionless in the swamp, before she heard someone exclaim loudly behind her. She whirled around, popping out behind the rock. "Got ya!"

Graham had almost no reaction to being shot multiple times with a paintball gun and Nathan quickly dragged him out of there. Jason stood, shell-shocked, before Nathan grabbed him too.

 **...Confessionals…**

Cashmere pouted. "I only got _one_ , and he didn't even scream!"

 **….Break…**

"Maybe the swamp was not the best location," Nathan sheepishly admitted.

 **….Break…**

"Now I can't even use this," Graham remarked a bit sadly, motioning to his paintball gun, but otherwise seemed unfazed.

 **….Break…**

"My shoe!" Jason squeaked, motioning to the gunk covering his red sneaker.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Tiana was skipping through the woods, looking for Chris's trailer.

 **...Confessionals…**

"If I can just find the trailer and sneak up on Lynn and Settler successfully, that'll be two Arteries down, just like _that_." Tiana snapped her fingers. "But I'm having a bit of trouble. I may have gotten sort of _lost_." She chuckled somewhat nervously.

 **….End Confessionals…**

While she skipped, Tiana heard some rustling behind a cluster of trees. She eagerly peeked behind them, to find…a group of squirrels holding some sort of meeting. One squirrel was standing on its hind-legs behind a podium made of acorns, with other squirrels sitting before it, on chairs also made of acorns. Tiana stared at them for a moment before slowly retreating.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I never knew squirrels had secret little meeting! _Cute_ ," Tiana cooed. "But odd."

 **….Break…**

The leader squirrel was sitting in the confessionals, squeaking, which roughly translated to, " _Idiot human! They will never suspect the squirrel uprising!_ " before it started to laugh, causing it to fall in the toilet. " _Curses!_ _Foiled again by human hygiene!_ "

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Atlas was standing in the middle of a clearing, unaware of the fact that enemy was watching him. He was leaning on his paintball gun, looking around inquisitively.

"I thought there would be more people around here, but I can wait," he muttered. "I'll be on a constant state of high alert, ready for any- hey!" At lightning speed, a paintball had hit him in the back. Almost as quick, Atlas grabbed his paintball gun and aimed it at the spot where the paintball had come from. Unfortunately, he then got splattered with multiple paintballs on his front side, mainly his face.

Unware to Atlas, Jayce was up one of the trees, snickering as he continued to shoot his victim.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Oh, Atlas, so unprepared." Jayce shook his head in mock sympathy.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Atlas readied himself to shoot some paintballs himself before realizing-

"Hey, can't shoot when already shot, idiot." Jayce murmured the last part, having dropped down from his hiding place.

" _You_ ," growled Atlas.

"Yeah, me," Jayce smirked and he fired one last shot. "And you're covered in paint, sweetheart."

Atlas gave him a nasty glare and Maggie and Launa exchanged glances from where they were still perched in their tree.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Why did Jayce reveal himself?" Maggie asked. "Isn't that counterintuitive?"

 **….Break…**

"Were they saying something to each other? Because it looked like they said stuff to each other," Launa said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Annabelle and Hans where laying on their backs, staring at the clouds.

"Look at that one." Hans nudged Annabelle. "Doesn't it look like a rabbit?"

"Eh, I see a-" Annabelle squinted, before stating firmly, "-duck."

"A duck?" Hans propped himself on his elbow, looking sideways at Annabelle. "Are you crazy?"

"Mhmm, but all the best people are," Annabelle stated, causing Hans to grin. But their moment was interrupted when a paint-splattered Ricky stumbled dramatically onto the scene, panting, "Avenge…me…" before falling over and closing his eyes.

Ashton quickly followed, dropping to his knees, and crying, "Nooo!" over Ricky's motionless body.

Hans and Annabelle exchanged disturbed looks.

 **...Confessionals…**

"How…how intense is this?" Annabelle stuttered. "I only got shot three times!"

 **….Break…**

Ricky brushed the dirt off his shoulders, before high-fiving Ashton, who was right next to him. "Nice idea."

Ashton smirked at the camera. "We need something to do while we're out, don't we?" And Ricky nodded.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Lynn and Settler were awkwardly sitting beside Chris's trailer, still not speaking to one another.

"Lynn." Settler broke the silence first. "I'm sorry for saying that stuff about you and Nathan."

"And I'm sorry if I made you mad," Lynn admitted. "I just don't want you to make this worse by dragging it out."

"And I don't want to make this worse by talking to Jason!" Settler exclaimed.

"But it will definitely get worse the longer you ignore him!" Lynn pushed.

Settler looked like she was going to retort, before succumbing. "You're right," she sighed. "It'll just be-"

"Hard?" Lynn said. "I know how you feel."

Settler sighed again, before staring determinedly. "How about we confront both of our problems? But together? And no matter what happens-" Settler offered her hand to Lynn. "-Friends?"

Lynn smiled and shook it. "Friends."

The girls shared a smile before they were pelted by paintballs. "Ahh!"

Jayce, Launa and Maggie emerged from the bushes.

"You guys really shouldn't let your guard down so much, you know?" Jayce stated, wiping an invisible speck of dirt off his paintball gun.

"But that was really sweet," Maggie assured them.

"But, we had to shoot you. Matter of the game, you know?" Launa shrugged, and she and Jayce shared a high five.

Lynn and Settler stared, stunned, and Tiana jumped out from the bushes.

"Hey-aww," she exclaimed when she noticed her targets were already covered in paint. "I got here too late."

Lynn and Settler were still too stunned to speak and Launa patted Tiana's shoulder sympathetically. "Sorry."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Please don't tell me they heard everything," Settler mumbled into her hands.

 **….Break…**

"We heard everything," Launa said. "But we didn't know the context, so it's cool."

 **….Break…**

"I can't believe they tied me up!" Atlas exclaimed, showing off his wrists, which displayed light rope marks. "I mean, I got out in five minutes, I have my Boy Scout un-knot tyer badge, but still!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Cashmere was resting in her hiding place when she heard a shuffle. Smirking, she popped out again, exclaiming, "Got y-" before she was shot with paintballs multiple times, crying out, "Mah eye!" when a stray shot hit her right eye. By the time she had wiped off the residue, the mysterious person was gone, and she slinked down slowly into the swamp.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Out! With a shot to the eye!" Cashmere exclaimed. "And to the cheek, and the arm, and the collar…"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Tiana stumbled into a clearing, and became overjoyed when she spot Annabelle.

"Anna!" she ran over to the girl and embraced her. "You're okay!"

"Yeah." Annabelle hugged back. "It was just a couple of shots."

"You won't believe what just happened!" Tiana claimed. "We got Lynn and Settler!"

"We?"

"Oh, me, well, not really me, and-" Before Tiana could say anymore, she was cut off by a shot to the back.

The girls turned around to see the fleeing figures of three Arteries.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Well, I played a good game," Tiana said. "May have not gotten anybody out, but a good game nonetheless."

 **….Break…**

"Wohoo! We got one!" Nathan cheered.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The cast members were in various places on the island when the speaker crackled to life.

"Contestants! We're down to three on each team!" Chris exclaimed before the speakers died.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I'm part of the final six? Yes!" Nathan exclaimed.

 **….Break…**

"I made it to the final six?" Jason muttered, "Wow…"

 **….Break…**

"Two thirds of my group are in the final six of paintball?" Graham shook his head. "I could have not predicted that."

 **….Break…**

"I'm part of the final three of my team?" Maggie questioned before paling. "Oh my."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Jayce, Launa and Maggie were wandering around, before Jayce stopped them.

"I think we should split up," he announced. "We know there are three contestants still active on the other team, and unlike us, they're probably not all together."

Launa nodded in agreement and they decided that Jayce would head east, Launa west, and Maggie north.

But when they separated, Maggie wasn't very ready. So when she heard a branch crackle, and turned around, she wasn't prepared for the onslaught of paintballs that came her way. When she recovered, the person who did it had already fled.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I…I did not expect that," Maggie murmured.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Graham was by himself, Nathan and Jason having split from him for maximum coverage, when he heard a twig snap behind him.

Whirling around, he raised his paintball gun and growled, "Who's there?"

A flustered Atlas emerged from the woods. "Put that down! I'm already out!"

"Oh," Graham lowered his paintball gun before smirking at the paint-coated Atlas. "You're already out? The great Atlas out before the final six?"

"Shut it before you get voted out like Xochitl," Atlas snarled. "And just barely."

Graham continued to smirk despite the false fact and Atlas glowered.

 **...Confessionals…**

"He didn't have to be so smug! He was out too!" Atlas exclaimed. "I don't even feel that bad about lying anymore." His voice turned quiet. "…maybe."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Do you know who's in?" Atlas asked.

"Nathan, Jason and someone else I don't know about," Graham stated.

Atlas raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I know," Graham deadpanned.

Graham suddenly slammed into a tree, causing Atlas to snicker, but it also caused both boys to stumble into a clearing with the rest of the contestants.

Tiana, Annabelle and Maggie were making flower crowns while Lynn and Settler chatted. Ricky and Aston were also there, laughing about something. When Ricky noticed them, he called them over.

"Hey, guys! Come sit!" The two boys begrudgingly complied.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Aren't we supposed to be on different teams?" Graham grumbled.

 **….Break…**

"Even if we're on different teams, everybody can still hang," Ricky said.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Jason was walking in a dense part of the forest, looking around suspiciously every couple of seconds. He was practically knocked on the floor, though, when a paintball nailed him in the back of the head.

"Well," Jayce smirked as Jason felt the sticky substance in his hair. "How easy. I was suspecting more of a challenge from _vampire_ _boy_ -" His words were cut off when he got a paintball to the small of his back.

"W-What?" He whirled around and caught a fleeting glimpse of the perpetrator. "Him? _How_?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Nice job," Jason smirked. "Nice job."

 **….Break…**

"I never would have suspected _that_ weakling!" Jayce exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

Launa looked around as she perused the trees leading to the cliff. She climbed higher and higher, unaware of the threat behind her. When she had finally gotten to the edge of the cleft, she heard the click of a paintball gun reloading. Startled, she turned around and faced her threat.

"Sorry, Launa," he said genuinely. "But the Arteries need the win. And on the edge of a cliff, of all things." He shook his head, but still looked apologetic. "Chris probably loves this," he stated as he raised his paintball gun.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I do!" Chris cackled. "Imagine the previews!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

But Launa raised her paintball gun too and snarled, "I'm not going down without a fight!" And two shots fired off.

* * *

The contestants in the clearing were quite happy when the speakers crackled to life, "Contestants! Report to the front of the mess hall immediately!"

The contestants shared looks, before Annabelle stated softly, "I guess that means someone won."

* * *

The contestants were lined up in front of Chris, who was pacing in front of them. Cashmere was noticeable for the fact she resembled a swamp monster, mud and moss still on her form.

"I have to say, that was quite a show today. It had drama, romance and needless violence!" Chris grinned somewhat maliciously. "Most of you pleased me."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Joy," Graham deadpanned.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Before I announce the winning team, let's go over a couple of stats," Chris cleared his throat, and pulled out a piece of paper along with a pair of reading glasses, which he slid on, from his front pocket. "The first one out was Ricky." Chris raised his eyebrow at the boy. "If I were you, I'd hope that the Capillaries won."

Ricky looked around nervously.

"Seconds after, Ashton. Neither got anybody else out, of course. Following them, Annabelle, Graham and Atlas, who all went out with shooting anybody. Seriously, I'm disappointed."

 **...Confessionals…**

Graham looked intrigued. "So, Atlas was fifth out and didn't get anybody? Interesting."

 **….Break…**

"Our team better have won, because this is too perfect," Jayce stated. "Atlas practically has a foot out of the door already."

 **….End Confessionals…**

"After them, Lynn and Settler, in that order. Lynn had snagged Annabelle, but Settler had nobody on her resume. Cashmere, then Tiana, fell next. Cashmere had gotten Graham out, but Tiana didn't shoot anybody." Chris shook his head. "How are you guys getting this far without shooting anybody?"

"Then we get to the final six. Maggie had at least shot someone before she got out, landing, like, half a paintball on Settler. Seriously? But Jason didn't even have that honor, if you can call it that, before he got out. Followed by Jayce, who had gotten Atlas, Lynn, Settler and Jason!" Chris looked impressed. "Finally, a person who knows how to play!"

Jayce smirked and shrugged nonchalantly.

"And then, sweet Nathan got out, having only shot Tiana. C'mon, you were in the final three!" Chris looked exasperated. "But, oh, our final two. What a show they put on. Chef, bring the out the TV!"

Chef pushed out a flatscreen on a cart out, grumbling the entire way.

"Remote," Chris commanded before Chef angrily threw the remote at his face.

"Hey!" Chris complained as Chef walked out. "Fine, be that way!"

Chris muttered something under his breath before resuming his host persona. "As you can see-" He turned the flatscreen on, the cliff showoff playing. "It was close, but ultimately, one paintball got there first." He slowed the footage, showing that the paintball Launa had shot had gotten to her victim a millisecond before the paintball that had hit her in the stomach. "You really shouldn't monologue so much, Hans. And _especially_ if that monologueing is apologizing! Seriously."

Hans looked sheepish as the Capillaries cheered around him.

"Launa had gotten Lynn, Settler, Nathan and of course, Hans out. _But_ Hans had gotten Ricky, Ashton, Cashmere, Maggie and Jayce out!" The contestants stopped whatever they were doing to gape. "Did not see that one coming."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Wait, it was _Hans_ who had gotten me out?" Cashmere exclaimed. "That string bean? I've seen more meat on a chicken with the flu!"

 **….Break…**

Graham just gave a very slow clap.

 **….Break…**

"I-I never knew he could do _that_ ," Annabelle stammered.

 **….Break…**

"It was Hans the whole time?" Ricky exclaimed. "Wow. Brutal."

 **….Break…**

"Rockin'!" Nathan cheered.

 **….Break…**

" _Wow~_ " Launa cooed.

 **….Break…**

"Wow. I'd try to get him out tonight, but even _I_ couldn't do that. People aren't that stupid," Jayce stated. "But, perhaps, he'd make a wonderful pawn for me." Jayce smirked before frowning and quirking an eyebrow. "But did I seriously just here Launa go ' _Wow~_ '?"

 **….Break…**

" _How?_ " Atlas cried.

 **….Break…**

"You really _do_ need to just hit people," Hans admitted sheepishly.

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Unfortunately, this is not a who-can-shoot-the-most-people contest," Chris said, to the relief of the Capillaries. " _But_ , Hans does get invincibility in the elimination for being the MVP of this round. You are all dismissed."

* * *

Jason, Graham, and Settler were all sitting in the Arteries boys' room, discussing the latest elimination. Jason and Settler were sitting as far away as they possibly could without arousing suspicion.

"I know the perfect person to eliminate," Graham smirked. "Atlas. He's been a pain since the beginning, and has contributed approximately zero to any athletic challenges, despite that being what he's _supposedly_ good at."

Jason nodded. "Seems fair. And not extremely difficult."

"Exactly. Our three votes will carry a lot of weight as it is, but the others don't seem to like him either. He's as good as gone."

Graham faced Settler, waiting for her opinion on the matter, though she only nodded silently.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Being in an alliance with Jason seemed like a good idea at first, back when he _didn't_ possibly hate me," Settler said. "But now, it's just awkward. At least Graham doesn't seem to notice."

 **….Break…**

"Do I notice? Of course I do," Graham stated. "But, frankly, it's none of my business. Plus, I can tell it would make Jason uncomfortable if I brought it up, and he's still my friend."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Nathan suddenly dashed into the room, carrying a bag of potato chips. "Oh, are we having a party?" he asked excitedly, noticing Settler. "Cause I bet I can get more people-"

"No," Jason and Graham flatly declared at the same time.

Nathan saddened. "Aw."

"But," Graham began. "There _is_ a favor we'd like to ask."

 **...Confessionals…**

"I was already going to vote for Atlas," Nathan said, munching on a potato chip. "So I don't mind."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The Arteries were sitting in front of a blazing campfire, the flames lighting up the night sky. Chris stood in front of them, holding a platter with six candy hearts.

"Wow. Three in a row, huh? Must sting. Maybe we should just eliminate you all here and save some time!" When Chris received only a few sour glares, he exclaimed, "It was a _joke_ , people!"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Besides, I'm paid per episode," Chris stated. "Ever wonder we have so many fillers?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Anyway, it's time to vote, so shoo!" Chris clucked and the contestants meandered off.

* * *

 **...Confessionals…**

"Atlas," Graham declared, strengthening his claim with a stamp. "For reasons already recorded."

 **….Break…**

"Atlas," Hans said. "He just, hasn't been nice."

 **….Break…**

"Graham," Atlas stated. "He's just been a useless snob."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The contestants were gathered at the campfire, all votes accounted for.

Chris cleared his throat. "The following are safe."

"Hans."

"Gotta admit, I was wondering if someone was going to be stupid enough to vote for you," Chris confessed as he tossed Hans his candy. "Unfortunately, no one was."

"Lynn, Nathan, Settler, Jason." The four caught their candies happily.

"Graham, Atlas, the final two." Chris turned to face them. "Graham, on this island, one thing has stayed put: your surly attitude. Frankly, it hasn't been doin' you good, dude."

Graham rolled his eyes impatiently, already sure of his standing.

"And Atlas, you just haven't been doing well in challenges, and your imperialistic attitude isn't helping."

Atlas squirmed and bit his thumb.

"But, only one will stay, and that one is…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…Graham!" Graham caught his candy and ate it with triumphant pleasure.

"Atlas, my dude, time to go."

Atlas didn't move, instead, sitting shell-shocked, before saying slowly, "This…has to be a joke, right? Some sort of epic prank."

"Nope," Chris shook his head. "You lost, buddy."

"But…I never lose."

"You know what they say, new experiences are good for the mind," Graham said innocently.

When Atlas still didn't move, Chris pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Chef, you need to get another contestant."

Seconds later, Chef grabbed the unresponsive boy by his shoulders and dumped him unceremoniously dumped him on the Boat of Losers. The boat then peddled out of sight.

"That was sad," Chris remarked before "cheering" up. "Now, contestants, to your cabins! You'll need a good night's rest for the next challenge." Chris let out a chuckle that didn't reassure anybody.

* * *

When Atlas was dragged onto the dock, Jayce popped out of the shrubbery he had been hiding in.

'Bye, Atlas,' he mouthed, smirking.

Atlas's eyes widened, if it was even possible for them to increase in size anymore. " _You_ ," he whispered, before being thrown onto the boat.

Jayce's smirk grew. "Yeah," he muttered to himself as he walked away. "Me."

* * *

Voting Results:

Atlas: Graham

Graham: Atlas

Hans: Atlas

Jason: Atlas

Lynn: Atlas

Nathan: Atlas

Settler: Atlas

Votes:

Graham: 1

 _Loser-_ Atlas: 6

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: Sadly, it was Atlas's time to go, but I really enjoyed writing for him! Hopefully he will get a bit more humble in the future._**


	13. Challenge 4, Part 1: Dive for Your Stay

_**Author's Note: I...just...ugh...LIFE. That is all.**_

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Heart Island-" Chris was leaning against a paint-splatted tree causally, the sky lit up by a full moon. "We had a paintball fight!"

"Many of the contestants weren't up to the task," Chris shrugged. "Making it easy work for the final two to work their way up to the top. _Literally_ the top." Chris gestured to something out of frame, and the camera bumpily zoomed out, before focusing on what Chris was pointing to; the cliff. "Our final two contestants, one for each team, battled it out of the top of Heart Island's cliff. It was so epic, we needed to slow down the footage to see who won! But alas, Launa's paintball hit the Arteries' champion, the darkhorse Hans, a millisecond before she could get hit. Thus, the Capillaries were granted victory."

"The Arteries voted off Atlas, with a bit of meddling from Jayce. And so we're down to, uh," Chris squinted at the camera, and the camera got a bit shaky again, as if someone behind it was gesturing. "Fourteen! Wow, really? Anyway, who will win and who will lose this next installment of Total! Drama! Heart! Island!"

* * *

 _ **Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine**_

(The camera takes an aerial view of a heart-shaped island for a moment, before diving down onto ground view and zooming across the island, angering Chris because the camera had knocked over his coffee)

 _ **You guys are on my mind**_

(Xochitl is drawing in her sketchbook, glaring at the camera as it zooms past)

 _ **You asked me want I wanted to be**_

(Tiana is chasing a butterfly, but she trips over a cardboard cut-out of a Chris idol, allowing the butterfly to fly away)

 _ **And now I think the answer is plain to see**_

(Cashmere is climbing up a tree, yelling at squirrel that had stolen her cowboy hat when the butterfly lands on the tip of her nose, causing her to sneeze and fall off, the squirrel laughing and scurrying away in victory)

 _ **I want to be famous**_

(Hans is nervously chatting with Annabelle, before he is pelted by acorns. The camera pans up to reveal the perpetrator is none other than the cowboy hat wearing squirrel)

 _ **I want to live close to the sun**_

(Atlas is talking to a bored intern, describing a sports victory vividly)

 _ **Well, pack your bags because I already won**_

(Jayce causally walks by, throwing away a gum wrapper that reflects the sun onto Atlas' shoelaces, causing his shoelaces to set on fire)

 _ **Everything to prove nothing in my way**_

(Launa is treading water in the lake, trying to convince a fearful Maggie that nothing dangerous is in the water while Atlas jumps in, in the background. The resulting ripples cause a shark to surface, and both girls run away)

 _ **I'll get there one day**_

(Chef, staring at the scene out a window in the mess hall, shakes his head in dismay)

 _ **Cause I want to be famous**_

(Chef turns around, and continues trying to force-feed Ashton a mysterious grey slop)

 _ **Na, Na, Na-Na-Na-Na**_

 _ **Na-Na-Na, Na, Na-Na-Na-Na**_

(At the Arteries table, Jason, Graham and Ricky are playing cards. Ricky puts down his cards, revealing he won, and cheers. Graham rolls his eyes while Jason throws down his cards in anger)

 _ **I wanna to be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

(Nathan and Lynn are playing on their guitars together in front of the lodges before Nathan gets too excited and smashes his guitar on the ground before looking sheepish)

 _ **I wanna to be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

(The camera pans up to the sky, and day dissolves into night, the camera then panning down to the campfire)

 _ **(Whistling)**_

(Everyone's sitting at the campfire, happily munching on marshmallows while the title fades in)

* * *

All of the remaining campers were in their cabins, sleeping peacefully. That was, until a large foghorn sound played over the intercom, startling several people awake.

The horn went on for around a minute, before a familiar voice replaced it. "Contestants! Report to the front of your cabins immediately!"

 **...Confessionals…**

"That was three hours of sleep," Graham stated calmly, before yelling, "Three hours!"

 **….Break…**

"I'd just like to say…" Cashmere slurred, still wearing a mask of green goop on her face. "That wha'ever happens next is not my fault."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The campers were lined up in front of their cabins, some yawning while others rubbed their eyes sleepily.

Tiana kept dozing off before snapping awake, murmuring, "I'm up, mom!"

Maggie still had a toothbrush stuck in her mouth, before Launa carefully removed it before looking around, shrugging her shoulders, and throwing it in the grass.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I just hope Maggie didn't like that toothbrush," Launa said.

 **….Break…**

"Hey…" Maggie straightened up, her eyes wide, as if just coming to an important realization. "Where's my toothbrush?"

 **….End Confessionals…**

Settler glanced nervously at Lynn, before looking down at her feet.

 **...Confessionals…**

"So, me and Lynn made a pack that we would both confront the boys with our issues, but…" Settler trailed off, before looking back at the camera. "I don't want to do that! It scares me, alright? I've never been apart of one group for very long, and I don't want to lose my friends! But I also don't want to lose Lynn by not following up on my promises."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Ricky and Ashton were side-eyeing each others' clothes critically.

"Never would've pegged you for a shirt-less type of guy," Ricky said.

"Never would've pegged you for flannel," Ashton replied.

"Touché."

Hans and Annabelle, meanwhile, were taking quick peeks at each other, before blushing and looking away.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Annabelle's so cute," Hans murmured, resting his cheek on his hand.

 **….Break…**

"Hans is so cute," Annabelle stated, swaying her right foot from side to side.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Nathan and Graham were lagging behind the group, dragging an unconscious and sopping Jason by his heels.

 **...Confessionals…**

"Man, can Jason sure _sleep_!" Nathan exclaimed. "Dude slept through the foghorn and a bucket of water in the face!"

 **….Break…**

"I just-" Jason yawned, fanning out his wet shirt. "-don't really see the point of-" He yawned again, giving up on his task and dropping his hands lazily to his sides. "-staying awake when I'm ti...re.." Jason slumped over, before letting out a loud snore.

 **….End Confessionals…**

Jayce was tapping his foot impatiently, sometimes taking a break to try and untangle the knots in his hair as a result of his unexpected awakening.

 **...Confessionals…**

"I feel like murdering someone," Jayce stated, glaring angrily. "Preferably Chris."

 **….End Confessionals…**

Cashmere was wiping chunks of a green facial mask of her nose, her eyes becoming narrower and narrower as the minutes dragged on, before she finally shouted, "When is Chris gonna get here? Does he think this is some kind of _joke_?"

"Well, Cashmere, I do. A very funny one, in fact."

"So, before I tell you about today's challenge, I have one question to ask you guys." Chris gained his trademark sleazy smile, and the cast began to feel uneasy. "How do you guys feel about swimming?"

 **...Confessionals…**

"Hate it," Graham stated simply. "I hate it. It's just so...wet."

 **….Break…**

"I love swimming!" Launa exclaimed. "In fact, I won the regional championships in second, fifth, and 9th grade! But that's nothing compared to the scores I got in track-"

 **….Break…**

"We skipped most of Launa's speech for you," Chris said, lazily swinging his "editing room" remote around. "Trust me, if you know how long it went on, you'd thank us."

 **….Break…**

"Swimming?" Jason yawned, already leaning against the confessional wall. "That seems...vaguely familiar..." Jason toppled over again, hitting the confessional floor with a "thunk!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

As Nathan took it to himself to try and drag Jason out the confessionals, Chris explained the challenge in further detail.

"Your challenge today is to find these!" Chris pulled out two pearls, one red, one blue, each around the size of his palm. "They'll be hidden in matching red and blue oysters around Lake Wawanakwa. Be warned, teose 'mama oysters' will do anything to protect their treasures, so it might be a bit of an extra challenge for you to convince them to give them up."

"That all?" Jayce muttered under his breath, sarcastically.

"I'm glad you asked Jayce!" Chris exclaimed cheerfully. "Because your teams will only have two sets of diving equipment, meaning each team can only send two players under at a time."

 **...Confessionals…**

"Only two players at a time…." Jayce murmured. "…Yeah, I think we can work with that."

 **….Break…**

"Yeah, we can definitely not work with that," Ashton stated. "I mean, only two players at a time! That lake is huge, it would probably take an hour for _all_ of us to find _one_ pearl!"

 **….End Confessionals…**

"Did I mention you guys only have five hours to find all of your pearls?" Chris smiled.

"Uh, no, you didn't," Nathan said.

"Well, I did now! And you all have five minutes to head to the docks and prep, starting….now!" Chris clicked the button of a stopwatch and the contestants ran off to the lake.

 **...Confessionals…**

"And that marks two!" Chris made a checkmark on a sheet of paper. "Two times that the contestants have ran to places!"

 **….Break…**

"I don't get why Chris had to wake us up so early," Ricky complained. "I mean, we would have had a time limit either way, so what's the point?"

 **….Break…**

"There was no point to getting the contestants up early," Chris said, still smiling gleefully at his sheet of paper. "It was just fun seeing their day get ruined."

 **….End Confessionals…**

* * *

The Capillaries were at a dock, the Arteries stationed at one on the other side of the lake. Two sets of blue diving equipment was there, as well as a giant bag filled with…something.

"So," Annabelle stated nervously, "Who wants to open the bag?"

"I don't know," Ashton said, "I mean, Chris could've put something really nasty in there, right?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Maggie agreed.

"You're all a bunch of wusses," Jayce and Launa said at the same time, causing both to flush slightly and look at each other.

"I mean, Chris wouldn't put something bad in there for no reason, right?" Launa said, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"It wouldn't serve to his advantage in any way, so I'd say it's just something for the challenge," Jayce said, and he confidently strode over to open the bag. "See, it's just our swimsuits."

"Oh." The Cappillries sighed in collective relief.

"Wait!" Tiana raised her arms in a universal "hold on a second" gesture. "...How did he get them?"

* * *

The Arteries, having already discovered their swimsuits and put them on, were now back at the dock, staring out at the lake.

"We just gotta go down there and grab some pearls, right?" Nathan asked, before following up with, "This should be easy!"

"Yeah," Lynn nodded. "Easy-peasy!"

The rest of the Arteries agreed, a smile lighting up their faces. And then their smiles dimmed, as they each asked themselves one question, which Hans finally verbalized. "So…who's first?"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: So, I'm back. This'll be...something. (Sorry for making you guys wait so long!)**_


End file.
